India-UK trade pact to open floodgates for business, strengthen bilateral ties: Piyush Goyal

London/New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement will open the floodgates for greater trade, investment and business opportunities, describing the pact as a comprehensive partnership that goes beyond conventional trade in goods and services and further strengthens India-UK ties.

Speaking to reporters in London, Goyal said there was a “great deal of optimism” among businesses in both countries regarding the agreement.

He noted that he had arrived in the UK with the largest-ever Indian business delegation to travel overseas with a Union minister, comprising nearly 170 entrepreneurs and industry representatives from various sectors and regions of India.

“There’s a lot of excitement in the UK, there’s a great deal of optimism both amongst businesspersons in India and the UK,” Goyal said, adding that the agreement had generated strong interest among companies seeking to expand bilateral business ties.

The minister said he held extensive discussions with British businesses as well as members of the Indian delegation and expressed confidence that the agreement would prove beneficial for both nations. According to him, the India-UK trade pact extends beyond traditional trade in goods and services and offers a comprehensive framework for long-term economic cooperation.

“I feel redeemed in some sense that what we have finalised as the India-UK Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement is a partnership that is good for both countries, is full of potential, and goes beyond the typical trade in goods and services,” he said.

Goyal expressed hope that the agreement would open the floodgates for increased trade and investment while further strengthening the strategic partnership between India and the UK.

Speaking about India’s trade negotiations with the United States, Goyal said that the US Trade Representative had recently visited India and that both sides held extensive engagements over the proposed bilateral trade agreement. He said India and the US were broadly in agreement on most aspects of the proposed deal.

“The USTR, my counterpart from the US, was in India for the last three days. We had extensive engagements, and broadly, we are in agreement on most aspects of the trade deal,” he said.

–IANS

pk