Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently highlighted the significant benefits expected from the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), emphasising that the pact will boost micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and create jobs.

Addressing a CEO forum alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Modi expressed confidence that the bilateral trade, currently at USD 56 billion, will double ahead of the 2030 target date. This free trade agreement aims to provide economic stability amid global uncertainty by increasing market access, cutting tariffs, and fostering deeper economic ties between the two countries.

The CETA agreement notably removes tariffs on approximately 99% of Indian tariff lines, opening significant trade opportunities for sectors like textiles, leather, marine products, gems and jewellery, toys, chemicals, engineering goods, and agricultural products.

This expansion is expected to generate additional annual revenue for India and the UK, while also promoting job creation in labour-intensive sectors such as textiles and leather in India, and advanced manufacturing and clean energy in the UK. The pact also facilitates professional mobility for Indian workers in fields such as IT, healthcare, finance, and education by simplifying entry processes, providing further economic benefits.

During the joint address, Prime Minister Modi also announced that nine UK universities will soon open campuses in India, fostering greater educational collaboration and innovation between the two countries.

British PM Keir Starmer, accompanied by a delegation of prominent business leaders, entrepreneurs, and educationists, called on industry leaders to identify barriers to trade and investment that governments could help remove to fully capitalise on the pact's potential.

Starmer reported a £6 billion boost in trade and investment since the pact was signed three months earlier and expressed UK’s commitment to supporting deeper economic integration with India.

The agreement further aims at cooperation in critical areas like strategic minerals, rare earth elements, APIs, telecom, AI, biotechnology, quantum computing, semiconductors, cyber technologies, space, and co-production in defence.

This comprehensive partnership also includes plans for joint investment funds focused on climate technology startups, green hydrogen, renewable energy, and sustainable infrastructure.

Both leaders stressed the strategic and geopolitical importance of the pact, reinforcing the deeper India-UK strategic partnership established recently and enhancing global supply chain integration.

The India-UK CETA is poised to significantly strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation, boost MSMEs and employment in India, expand educational ties through UK university campuses in India, and foster collaboration in cutting-edge technology and sustainability sectors, with an optimistic outlook to achieve the trade doubling target before 2030.

Based On NDTV Report