Free Trade Agreement: PM Modi To Leave For UK Tour Today. To Meet Starmer, King Charles

• By Thetripurapost Web Desk, London
• Jul 23, 2025
• 551

PM Narendra Modi will leave for a two-day visit to Britain today. This is his fourth visit to Britain. He is going here on the invitation of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. This information has been given by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

This is Modi's first visit to Britain after Keir Starmer became the Prime Minister. The PM will also meet British monarch King Charles.

There will be a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Starmer in London. In this, the two will discuss issues like India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), defense, technology and climate.

Negotiations between the two countries regarding the FTA continued for more than three years, which has now been completed.

The aim is to double the business in 5 years:

During this visit of PM Modi, a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) can be signed between India and the United Kingdom (UK) after three years of negotiations. According to media reports, the legal process of the draft agreement has been completed.

FTA means Free Trade Agreement, which is called 'Free Trade Agreement' in Hindi. It is an agreement between two or more countries so that they can easily trade goods and services among themselves and impose less tax (duty) on it or no tax at all.

This benefits companies from both countries because their goods become cheaper, leading people to buy more.

FTA got approval from cabinet:

This FTA between India and UK has been approved by the Indian Cabinet. Now it is pending approval from the British Parliament. This may take 6 months to 1 year.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is also on a UK visit with PM Modi. He has a major role in the negotiations related to the FTA. Earlier, the deal was finalised between the two countries on 6 May.

The FTA aims to double bilateral trade to $120 billion by 2030. After the agreement is signed, export taxes on labour-intensive products such as leather, footwear, textiles, toys, gems and jewellery from India to the UK will be abolished.

At the same time, products like British whisky and cars will become cheaper in India. After the deal, trade between the two countries is expected to reach $120 billion by 2030. Along with this, new employment is expected in areas like digital, engineering, marketing in both the countries.

These goods can become cheaper due to the agreement between the two countries-

Cars: British luxury cars like Jaguar Land Rover can now be bought at cheaper prices.

Scotch whisky and wine: 

Tariffs on liquor and wine coming from England will be reduced, making them cheaper than before.

Fashion and Clothing: 

Branded clothing, fashion products and homeware from the UK may also be cheaper.

Furniture and electrical goods: 

Furniture, electronics and industrial machinery importing from the UK can now be available at lower prices.

Jewellery and gems: 

Indian gems and jewellery will sell cheaper in the UK, which may make products cheaper for Indian customers in the UK.
Domestic liquor companies will get competition

Due to this agreement, whisky coming from the UK will be available at a lower price in India, which is the world's largest whisky market. However, after this deal, there will be competition for those domestic liquor companies, which are rapidly growing in the premium alcohol market.

Mark Kent, CEO of the Scotch Whisky Association, described the deal as 'transformational' and said, "The UK-India Free Trade Agreement is a once in a generation deal and a historic moment for Scotch whisky exports to the world's largest whisky market."

How will India benefit from a free trade deal?

This deal will boost Indian exports and also create jobs. In FY24, India exported merchandise worth $12.9 billion or Rs 1.12 lakh crore to the UK. This deal will help India achieve the export target of $1 trillion by 2030. Access to developed markets will also increase.

Negotiations between India and the UK regarding the agreement began on 13 January 2022, which has now been completed after about 3.5 years. On 24 February, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds announced the resumption of negotiations for the proposed FTA between the two countries.

Since 2014, India has signed 3 such free trade agreements with Mauritius, UAE, Australia and EFTA (European Free Trade Association). India is actively negotiating similar agreements with the European Union (EU).