India’s commerce minister has said New Delhi is on track to conclude a full trade agreement with the UK by October, adding negotiators had already finalised nearly half of what would be one of Britain’s most ambitious deals since Brexit.
Piyush Goyal told the Financial Times he expected the two countries would conclude the trade deal “within the next few months” and that 11 of the proposed pact’s 26 chapters were already “dusted and ready”.
Both Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and UK counterpart Boris Johnson have pushed trade diplomacy as part of their economic agendas. India is pursuing trade agreements with everyone from the EU to Canada after inking deals with the United Arab Emirates and Australia, while Downing Street sees an agreement with New Delhi as a centrepiece of its post-Brexit economic strategy.