Bilateral Updates

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between India and the United Kingdom will come into force from July 15 with both sides reaching an understanding on the last-leg issues around Britain’s steel safeguard measures. The date for Entry into Force (EIF) of the agreement was announced by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their meeting on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit at Evian in France.

Discussions between India and the UK are progressing well to resolve certain outstanding issues, including Britain's steel safeguard measure, for the implementation of the free trade agreement, an official said on Monday. The safeguard measure and the UK's carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) have become a sticking point in the implementation of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which was signed on July 24, 2025.

Talks between Britain and India on implementing a free trade deal are moving quickly and going well, trade minister Peter Kyle said, suggesting the deal would not be reopened but could come into effect later than expected after a dispute over steel. Britain and India agreed a free trade deal in May 2025 and signed it two months later, to be implemented after each country ratified the deal, which was expected to happen within about a year.