Focus will be on quality deal that is beneficial for both sides: UK trade secy

UK and India had their sixth round of trade talks. UK Secretary of State for International Trade Kemi Badenoch held talks with her counterpart, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday.

This is the first time that the two countries are talking on the FTA after the new government of Britain under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, took oath of office. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Kemi Badenoch, Secretary - Trade, UK said that the priority is to have ambitious and balanced free trade agreement and they would like to conclude negotiations by March or middle of next year, but won’t fix a timeline.

She said, "We have been having these talks for quite a while, and the negotiations are progressing very well. But we need something that's going to be mutually beneficial to both, the UK and India. We already have a lot of trade between the two countries, we are very close trading partners. And we want to build on our existing strong friendship with our ally, India."

Badenoch mentioned that they have stopped talking about deadlines, and the focus is on the quality of the deal.

She said, "What minister Goyal and I have done is, instructed the negotiators to work at pace. We had a very constructive discussion this afternoon, where we both spoke at the same time, both negotiating teams heard what we had to say and know that this is something that we would like to conclude as soon as possible. But it has to be the right deal for both countries."