now the first ever full fledged trade agreement with the West. The free trade agreement could prove to be a game changer for India and the UK hectic negotiations have been going on for almost two years now and both India and the UK are keen to ink the agreement before the polls later this year. Despite multiple obstacles, the FTA dialogue is now in the final stage. India and the UK are likely to seal the free trade agreement before the polls in both countries. In fact, an Indian Delhi is in London to finalise the details of the free trade agreement before the model code of conduct. The PM member has also reviewed the India UK FTA talks, which have been on for the past two years. The Indian government says that perhaps the FTA could be signed before the summer polls in India. India is of course also moving fast because of snubbing a deal with China, the regional deal that was snubbed by India earlier. But what really are the roadblocks to the ongoing FTA talks? Well, at the very outset there seem to be differences in the extent to which perhaps a free trade agreement can be realised and extend to various sectors, keeping interest of both nations intact. Some of the key concerns that are dealing the finalisation of the free trade agreement well, differences over market access for the UK regaining access to and control over the global market is especially after the exit from the European Union. The utilisation versus concession debate is also a sticking point should specific areas be excluded? And what about protecting the interests of SM SME S in India as well? The other sticking point is the tariff freight quotas. Well tariff reduction in the automobile and alcoholic beverages sector is proving to be a major challenge also India's demand for professional visas and and UK's concerns over migration because India has pitched strongly for greater mobility. Also trusted transfer of data flows across the border because both economies are digitising faster than ever before. Import duties on that, of course, also is a huge challenge because we have to look at self interest and balance it with commercial gains because national interests have to be protected while recognising the aspirations of the two nations. Of course, intellectual property rights also is a key challenge for both the countries to iron out. But looking at how the India UK FTA could be a landmark opportunity, UK remember is among India's largest export partners and the FTA could be a boost to India's labour intensive sector. This also ties in with India's push for agriculture and manufacturing exports and the FTA could revive the global textile market in India, putting it on par with Bangla. The FTA could also mean tariff cuts on vehicles because remember India's exports to the UK actually equals billions of dollars. The elimination of non tariff barriers, meanwhile, could also benefit India as this could be a pathway to a trade deal with India second largest partner, which is a European Union to counter China's regional trade deal. But of course, some say that there will be more benefits to the UK and lesser to India, at least in the short term.
