The 5th round of negotiations, which is being hosted by India, is currently underway in New Delhi

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the United Kingdom are on track and will be concluded by August 31, Union Commerce Secratary BVR Subrahmanyam said on Thursday.

The agreement would be ready to be signed as per convenience of both the leaders after internal approvals on both sides, he said. “Irrespective of party in power in UK, the logic of FTA with India is irreversible,” Subrahmanyam added.

He was interacting with the media following the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding on mutual recognition of educational qualifications and a framework agreement on healthcare with the UK. The MoUs and framework agreement were signed by UK's Permanent Secretary, Department of International Trade James Bowler and top officials of the Indian government.

During the meeting, Subrahmanyam and Bowler also took stock of the progress made towards the signing of FTA, said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The Prime Ministers of India and
the UK had launched the Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) on May 4, 2021 to unleash the trade potential of the partnership by doubling trade by 2030 and reducing market barriers to trade in key sectors.

Following this , both sides had launched negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement on January 13, 2022. The 5th round of negotiations, which is being hosted by India, is currently underway in New Delhi.

India and the United Kingdom had wrapped up the fourth round of negotiations on the proposed FTA.on June 24, with detailed discussions on most of the related issues.

"For this round of negotiations, detailed draft treaty text was advanced across the majority of chapters. Technical experts from both sides came together for discussions in 71 separate sessions covering 20 policy areas," the Joint Outcome Statement shared by UK's Department for International Trade (DIT) had said.