Lack of investment chapter in India-UK trade deal 'not a concern', says Muscatelli

The absence of a bilateral investment chapter from the India-UK Free Trade Agreement is not a cause for serious concern, Sir Anton Muscatelli, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, has said — offering an influential endorsement of the landmark pact's overall architecture even as some trade experts flag the gap.

The India-UK FTA, concluded after more than three years of on-and-off negotiations, is widely regarded as the most significant trade deal India has signed in recent decades. It reduces tariffs on a wide range of goods, improves access for Indian services professionals in the UK, and deepens cooperation in sectors including education, technology, and financial services. However, negotiators on both sides were unable to agree on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) component, leaving investment protections to be addressed in a separate future agreement.

Muscatelli, speaking to The Hindu, argued that the deal's substantive commercial and academic benefits are significant enough to proceed without the investment chapter, and that a standalone BIT can follow. His view aligns with the Indian government's preference for signing investment treaties carefully, given past disputes under earlier bilateral investment agreements.

For Indian businesses, the practical implication is that dispute-resolution protections for investments in the UK — and vice versa — remain governed by domestic laws rather than a treaty framework for now. Industry groups on both sides have flagged this as an area to watch as the FTA moves toward ratification and implementation.