Britain’s exit from the EU will benefit FTA between the European Union and India

The exit of the UK from the European Union will have a positive impact on the stalled negotiations between the EU and India as the FTA is long drawn issue. This is according to the reports from the leaked documents that were accessed by European parliament members. The documents that were accessed by the members of the European Parliament from the influential trade committee of the EU have revealed that the tough stand taken by the UK Prime Minister Theresa May on immigration of Indian skilled workers that had blocked the FTA from getting operational way back in the year 1997. It was reported by the Guardian that the high import tariffs imposed by India on Scotland’s scotch whiskey were an additional hurdle which will also no longer be a factor after Brexit, as quoted by The Hindu. The members of EU parliament observed that Scotland has a vital interest in pursuing FTA with India. The reason for this was that the world’s largest whiskey market was in India and it is highly safeguarded by preventive tariffs. Decreasing the tariffs for whiskey would prove to be a crucial market prospect for the Scotland, observed the MPs of the EU parliament. In the scenario where in the UK along with Scotland exits from the European Union, this will enable fruitful negotiations for the FTA between the union and India as then tariffs on wines and financial services will no longer be a stumbling block, added the MPs. The MPs of the European Parliament have also indicated that though the new trade ties between the UK and India have been hyped a lot, it is going to be a struggle for the UK to secure the trade deal with India. Owing to the crucial and large Indian Diaspora that resides in the UK and the shared past, Britain attaches a lot of significance to the trade ties with India. However, the post-Brexit scenario will result in the trade ties between the EU and India getting more strengthened, added the MPs from EU Parliament. The statistics for India’s economic ties with EU reveal that Germany tops the list of nations in the EU with 6th rank while the UK is at the distant 18th rank. The UK also accounts for only 2 percent of India’s exports, while it makes up for nearly 3.4 percent of the overall exports of India. Additionally, at present Britain has the largest goods trade deficit with India while compared with any other EU member nation and accounts for almost 2,611 million Euros. On the other hand, nations such as the Germany and Belgium have a large trade surplus with India. The document accessed by the EU parliament members also adds that the issue of visas that has become a major thaw between the trade ties with Britain is a political issue as far as the UK is concerned. India for obvious reasons has many stakes in securing visa access through mode IV for its service suppliers the Britain. This is going to be a major political hurdle as India firms will be keen to enter the UK for providing short-term services.