Pursuing FTA with UK and European Union very seriously: Jaishankar

India is pursuing FTA with United Kingdom and European Union very seriously while it has reservations on RCEP due to weak ‘rules of origin’ and many participating economies not being transparent market economies, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar stated on Thursday.
He was speaking during the Plenary Session on “Shaping a New India for Global Role” on day two of CII Annual Meeting 2021 organised virtually.

Speaking on FTAs, he quoted current EU president Ursula Von Trayer, that ‘liberalised trade should not come at the cost of fair trade’ and said that we must keep the interests of MSMEs in mind and ensure that they receive a level playing field in domestic market.

He further informed that it is one of his top priorities to ensure that Indians travelling abroad face least possible restrictions with regards to the type of vaccination they have received.

He emphasized that as India and Indians look at the world as a global workplace, international mobility and migration becomes very important. The External Affairs Minister said that ‘vaccine certificates’ rather than type of vaccine received should be the criteria for enabling overseas travel and that India is taking up this issue bilaterally with multiple countries.

On India’s leadership role during the pandemic, the Minister said that while many countries competed over essential medical supplies, India stood out as being decisive and effective, providing essential food, medicines, equipment and vaccine to various countries. India supplied vaccine to many smaller countries who may not have got the necessary supplies otherwise.

“For this, countries across the globe appreciated our efforts and reciprocated when India faced the crisis during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.”

“Just like we helped others in the first wave, I think the world stood by us in many respects in the second wave, especially in terms of oxygen supply, oxygenators, medicines.”

On setting an agenda for positioning a New India beyond 2022, he emphasized that the country needs to invest in building capacities and supply chains within India and the Atmanirbhar Bharat is the kind of holistic approach that provides the platform for it.