Piyush Goyal got ice cream from counterpart after UK-India FTA

London: Dubbed a “landmark deal" between India and the UK, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations last month concluded during a walk in London’s Hyde Park when Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was treated to a chocolate ice cream by his UK counterpart Jonathan Reynolds.

“I owe him one,” joked Goyal on Wednesday as he shared insights from the discussions during an interview with PTI on the sidelines of the India Global Forum (IGF) UK-India Week summit here.

“When I received Secretary Reynolds’ message inviting me to join him for a walk at Hyde Park (on May 2), he knows that I'm very fond of walking there every time I'm in London, I had not imagined that we’ll get talking about the few issues that were left for us to be able to conclude the Free Trade Agreement and the Double Contribution Convention (DCC) agreement,” he shared.

“In the course of our walk there, we were able to close the nuances in a very practical manner, which was fair for both countries, which was a balanced agreement, and will lead to shared prosperity for businesses and the people of both countries,” he said.

On May 6, both sides confirmed the FTA negotiations, which began in January 2022, had been concluded, and expected to double annual bilateral trade to $120 billion by 2030.

“A Free Trade Agreement brings stability to economic conditions between two countries. It also gives confidence to businesspeople that tariff rates will remain constant. There's certainty about the friendship between the two countries, business climate will be predictable, and therefore it encourages two-way investment, apart from, of course, promoting trade in goods and services,” said Goyal.

“It also encourages collaborations and joint ventures, where you are not only looking at each other's markets, but you're looking at capturing world markets together,” he said.

During an earlier intervention at the IGF Summit, the minister had likened the FTA to a “good marriage” and, when asked to elaborate, he noted on a lighter note how “every marriage is long-lasting by and large, we believe marriage is very sacred, not to be taken very lightly”.

Concerning the timeline for the FTA coming into force, he added: “I believe that similarly, the UK-India partnership will convert very quickly into an enforceable agreement after the UK Parliament goes through its processes.

“We in India have a much faster process, comparatively, so we'll be ready as soon as the legal scrubbing is done and the document is sorted out. We believe the businesses and offshoots of this partnership will certainly add a lot of vibrancy and joy to this partnership and benefit from its very, very important elements that have been agreed between the two countries.”

With specific reference to the DCC pact, which ensures temporary foreign workers on both sides are exempt from duplicating social security-related taxes in both countries, the minister addressed some sections of the UK media that misrepresented this as unfair in some way.

“I think we should not mix up these temporary workers who come here, or the students who come here to gain from the high-quality education in the UK, with immigration issues,” said Goyal.

“This is a temporary location in the UK, which adds a lot of value to the UK economy, supports jobs for the local people. It's a win-win for both countries, and I think there's absolutely no doubt in my mind or the mind of the government of the UK about its usefulness and its benefits,” he said.

The senior Cabinet minister is in the UK on a two-day visit for talks with Reynolds on the next steps for implementation of the FTA and meetings with Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

Besides, he will interact with business leaders, investors, and policy experts and is also expected to address the IGF summit’s session on India-UK science and technology collaborations.