INDIA and Britain aim to finish their talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) by October, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday.

Johnson, on his first visit to India as prime minister, emphasised growing bilateral relations, with greater cooperation in areas such as defence, energy and security issues involving the Indo-Pacific region.

He said Britain is “using our Brexit freedoms” to reach a bilateral free trade pact with India and following his talks yesterday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “I told our negotiators to get it done by Diwali in October.”

India and Britain launched formal negotiations for an FTA in January with a target of doubling their bilateral trade by 2030.

Johnson said “there is so much potential for us to take our trade and investment to a whole new level”.

He said during the April 21-22 visit, Britain secured new business deals worth £1 billion (RM5.5 billion).

The British prime minister said the expanded bilateral defence and security partnership “will enable India to strengthen its own domestic defence industry as well as protecting vital shared interests in the Indo-Pacific”. – Bernama, April 23, 2022.