India should aggressively pursue FTAs with EU and UK: Trade experts

Trade experts believe that post Brexit, India should aggressively pursue free trade agreements (FTAs) with both the European Union and the UK. With just a week to the deadline, Britain and the EU managed to seal a historic Brexit free trade agreement.

As such, trade experts are keen for India to explore opportunities in service sectors like IT, architecture, research and development, and engineering in both the markets. Ajay Sahai, DG of Federation of Indian Export Organizations, said there is not much gain for Indian goods, but the industry can gain in services sector in both the EU and UK markets. “We will gain more in the UK market as we are English speaking country,” he highlighted. “Now we should push the FTA negotiations with both the EU and the UK. Indian competitors like Vietnam have greater duty advantage in sectors like apparel and marine goods.”

Biswajit Dhar, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told PTI that India had a lot of contentious issues while negotiating FTA with the EU. He believes that, after Brexit, the UK could have different stand on those issues and now India should pursue FTA talks again with both the regions. Dhar said there is possibility of doing a favorable free trade pact with the UK.

Sharad Kumar Saraf, FIEO President, said India should now move aggressively on starting negotiations for FTA with both regions. He highlighted that the FIEO has requested the government to sign an MoU regarding a deadline to conclude FTA talks with Britain during the visit of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, next month, in India. Rakesh Mohan Joshi, professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), said India will get a better opportunity to cater to the demands of both the markets, but New Delhi has to plan accordingly.

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A Sakthivel, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman, said the FTA would help in removing the customs duty disadvantages faced by domestic players in Britain.