India-UK FTA: Floor, Not Ceiling, Says Envoy

Mumbai, Feb 11 (PTI) The Free Trade Agreement between India and the United Kingdom is the floor of the relationship between the two countries and it's not the ceiling of their ambitions, Harjinder Kang, UK's Trade Commissioner for South Asia said.

Kang, the British Deputy High Commissioner for Western India, said several ministerial visits are lined up in February.

The proposed visits include Jonathan Reynolds, the Secretary of State for Business & Trade; Poppy Gustafsson, UK Investment Minister Secretary of State at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Vernon Coaker, Minister of State for Defence of the United Kingdom and Alastair King, the Lord Mayor of the City of London.

He said not a single day goes by without an FTA-related conversation.

"It's a conversation that we have regularly. Some of you know that I was the UK's chief negotiator before I came here to do this role and it's an amazing experience about the two industries, sectors, two economies, the two governments and how they absolutely fit," he said.

There is a symbiosis between the two nations, Kang said.

He hosted an evening reception on Tuesday to mark the birthday of King Charles III.

"In the words of our foreign secretary David Lammy, who visited here not so long ago, the FTA is the floor of our relationship and it's not the ceiling of our ambitions. We have way more to go," Kang said.

The King's Birthday Party (KBP) celebration pays tribute to The King as the UK's Head of State, celebrating with the best of British art, culture, and food. It also provides a unique opportunity to celebrate the bonds of friendship between the UK and India, Kang said.

He said the UK-India relationship has gone from strength to strength. The two PMs met at the G20 to refresh our relationship through a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and they agreed to start immediately.

"Because at the end of the day, it's not about trade only. The trade is brilliant and we have about 40 billion pounds of bilateral trade each year. But there is much more that we can do. Certainly in the new era of technology, life sciences, and education," Kang said.

The envoy said the two nations agreed on a Technology and Security Initiative (TSI) between their national security advisors only a few months ago which is an umbrella of getting the technology and collaboration across our countries more strategically, he said.