India-UK FTA dialogue to enter final stage tomorrow

The 14th and the final round of negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK will enter the last lap from Wednesday and are likely to take up remaining issues such as business mobility, Scotch whiskey, automobiles, farm products, pharmaceuticals, rules of origin, and a separate pact to boost bilateral investments, three officials with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The new round of negotiations, scheduled to start on January 10, is expected to be the most difficult because of technical issues and sensitivities, they said, requesting anonymity. "We expect that this could be the final round and possibly political leaderships from both sides may intervene in case of a stalemate," one official said.

"We already held a long 13th round and resolved almost all matters barring some of the contentious matters. The most difficult part comes always at the end in all such negotiations.

However, an amicable resolution of all concerns raised by both parties are must for the success of any trade pact," a second person said.

The 13th round of negotiations for the trade pact took place from the September 18 to December 15.