India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks are now in their final stages and despite some issues to be resolved, there is optimism on both sides that the Diwali deadline for a draft will be met, according to the Lord Mayor of London .

Lord Mayor Vincent Keaveny recently met with leading Indian companies, investors and CFOs from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on a four day trip.

As London Ambassador for Financial and Professional Services, his visit aimed to strengthen financial services links between India and the UK and build strong and sustained capital flows in both directions.

“It’s been a really good time to be in India as the FHA negotiations move into their final stages,” Keaveny said.

“Prime Minister Modi has made it clear that he intends to sign the Diwali Free Trade Agreement. There are still some outstanding issues that need to be resolved, but I think there is a lot of optimism on both sides that we can do it. Whatever the content of the deal, it will have a positive impact across the board on the relationship between India and the UK in the years to come,” he said.

Connectivity improvement

Keaveny, who also spoke at the Global Fintech Festival in Mumbai earlier this week, highlighted the huge demand for digital services in India as a sign of growing India-UK exchanges in the field.

“London is Europe’s leading fintech hub. And we can all see that India is on the way to becoming Asia’s leading fintech hub – with the highest fintech adoption rates anywhere in the world and the emergence of many unicorns,” he said.

“Besides talent, we have an opportunity to increase connectivity between the UK and Indian fintech ecosystems – both business-to-business connections and connections via hubs and accelerators. Underscored by UK-India relations which are at an all-time high. FTA negotiations will significantly pave the way for much stronger trade flows between our nations,” he added.

Referring to his discussions with RBI and SEBI, the Lord Mayor described the very “positive commitment” in the area of ​​sustainable finance as an area with “enormous opportunities”.

Published on

September 25, 2022