NEGOTIATIONS on India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) were back on track in April following efforts from Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Rishi Sunak. The two PMs reportedly spoke over phone recently and agreed to expedite the discussions on outstanding issues.
The talks, which started on January 13 last year, continued amid the political change in the UK and recent media reports that said India had halted negotiations. The reports suggested that India will resume the dialogue only after the island nation took tougher action against those responsible for vandalism at the Indian High Commission premises in London, in March. Both the countries, however, denied such reports.
Data dampener
India’s insistence on data localisation is a “major stumbling block” to a planned free trade agreement with the UK, a report tabled in the House of Commons said, signalling continuing differences on cross-border data flow issues.
In the negotiations on the deal, the UK has demanded free crossborder data flow and a ban on data localisation. The UK opposes India’s demand for mandatory transfer of source codes, algorithms, and encryption keys.
“The UK and India appear to be very far apart on these issues. A major potential stumbling block
