The Cotton Textile Export Promotion Council (Texprocil) has urged the Government to sign free trade agreement with the United Kingdom after its exit from European Union is formalised from January.

Manoj Patodia, Chairman, Texprocil said the visit of UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson to India as a Chief Guest at the Republic Day Parade next month presents an opportune moment to formulate a comprehensive framework for commencing FTA negotiations

The UK is one of India’s largest trading partners among the European countries in the textile and clothing sector accounting for almost 24 per cent of goods exported from India to the EU region.

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As per reports, he said UK has already signed trade agreements with 62 countries including countries such as Turkey, Canada, Singapore and Mexico ahead of Brexit transition.

It therefore becomes all the more imperative for India to commence the process of negotiations without any delay as India may lose the first mover advantage and consequent market share, he said.

Simultaneously government should revive and expedite the FTA negotiation with the EU, as it is one the leading markets for India’s textile and clothing products exports where competing countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam have an edge over India due to a zero tariff arrangement.

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India’s exports to the EU, Patodia said has stagnated over the last 6 years while countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan have shown strong export growth to EU during the same period.

Any further delay by India will hamper India’s textile exports as the competing countries will surge ahead, he added.

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