Good market access: UK on FTA with India

LONDON: There has been good market access offered on both sides but not enough to secure a free trade agreement (FTA), the UK government has said as Indian negotiators are in London this week to continue discussions with their British counterparts.

During a debate in the House of Lords this week, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron was addressing questions from British peers on the current state of freedom of religion or belief in India.

The recent restructuring of the BBC to create a new Indian-owned entity in order to comply with the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) rules was flagged by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Jeremy Purvis, who questioned the level of market access being offered to India in the field of media, data and telecoms as part of the FTA negotiations.

“My understanding of where we are with the trade deal is that good market access has been offered on both sides, but not quite enough yet to secure a deal. It is important with such trade deals, as you only really get one proper shot at it, to make sure that it is a good enough deal that will be welcomed by industry leaders here in the UK as offering real market access,” said Lord Cameron.

It came as a team from India arrived in London to continue talks this week under the fourteenth round of FTA negotiations, which are aimed at significantly enhancing the GBP 38.1 billion bilateral partnership across different sectors.

Specifically referencing the point on media access, Lord Cameron said he would have to look into the details but his personal view was that “we should open up media access on both sides to make sure we have a good plurality of media.”