India-UK Free Trade Agreement: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday arrived in the United Kingdom in a visit that is poised to further strengthen bilateral ties by signing a historic Free Trade Agreement.

PM Modi landed in London for two-day visit to the United Kingdom.

PM Modi will hold discussions with his UK counterpart Keir Starmer. The two leaders will have the opportunity to further enhance economic partnership, aimed at fostering prosperity, growth and jobs creation in both countries.

The Prime Minister is expected to sign a historic free trade agreement with the UK in order to implement the deal that aims to open up trade between the two countries.

Provisions in the India-UK Free Trade Deal

The trade deal, firmed up after three years of negotiations, is expected to ensure comprehensive market access for Indian goods across all sectors and India will gain from tariff elimination on about 99 per cent of tariff lines (product categories) covering almost 100 per cent of the trade values, according to officials.

India-UK likely to sign FTA

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his British counterpart Jonathan Reynolds are likely to sign the FTA in the presence of the two prime ministers on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said.

What is the India-UK FTA?

Earlier in May, India and the UK sealed the free trade agreement that is expected to benefit 99 per cent Indian exports from tariff and will make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars and other products to India besides boosting the overall trade basket.

PM Modi’s departing speech

In his departure statement, Modi said India and UK share a comprehensive strategic partnership that has witnessed significant progress in recent years.

“Our collaboration spans a wide range of sectors, including trade, investment, technology, innovation, defence, education, research, sustainability, health and people-to-people ties,” he said.