ALl you need to know about events leading to India, UK FTA

May 4, 2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and (the then) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched an ‘Enhanced Trade Partnership’ (ETP) to unleash the trade potential between the two economies. As part of the ETP, they agreed on a roadmap to negotiate a comprehensive and balanced FTA.

Jan 13, 2022: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal launched the Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom along with (the then) UK Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan in New Delhi.

Both parties agreed to start the first round of negotiations on 17-28 January and hold future rounds of negotiations approximately every five weeks.

Jan 2022 - Jan 2025: A total of 14 rounds of negotiations were held between officials of the two countries.

March, 2024: Negotiations were paused due to Indian general elections; both sides agreed to resume discussions post-election.

February, 2025: Goyal and UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds announced resumption of negotiations. It was resumed after a gap of over eight months because of elections in Britain.

Apr 28, 2025: Goyal visited London for the FTA talks with his UK counterpart, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.

May 2, 2025: Goyal again held discussions with Reynolds.

May 6, 2025: India and the UK announced the conclusion of negotiations for FTA, along with the Double Contribution Convention pact.