Indian Law Minister Hon Kiren Rijiju promises to set up an International Arbitration Centre in India at par with Singapore and London

Indian Law Minister Hon Kiren Rijiju and Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on their visit to London attended an event organised by FICCI at Mansion House in the City of London, to discuss the recent trends in mergers and acquisitions and the future of India as an arbitration destination under the topic ‘Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes’, especially in the light of the ongoing UK-India Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA).
The event was moderated by FICCI’s Director General Arun Chawla who welcomed the guests, introduced the keynote speakers, setting the mood for later discussions.
Minister Rijiju, who dashed to Ambedkar Bhavan in London after his speech, said, “The Government of India has proposed setting up of The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre which will come up very shortly. The centre will be equipped with necessary infrastructure and professional management offering quality legal administrative expertise and in panel recruit arbitrators. The ambition is to be independent and autonomous body facilitating institutional arbitration in India and get an institute of national importance, attracting best arbitrators to India like Singapore and London and become a major arbitration hub.
“The government of India has undertaken steps to reduce compliance burden for improving overall business regulatory environment in India. The objective of this exercise is to improve ease of living and make government to business and citizen interface hassle-free.”
Chief Justice Ramana made key suggestions and hailed the idea of the centre by the Government of India.
Emphasising on the effects of the FTA, and legalities arising from there, Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Vincent Keaveny said, “We prepare us to be committed to further our commodity trading partnership. Plans to last year's enhanced Free Trade Agreement kind of moves to the next phase, the importance all of this can't be overstated. A trade deal would boost bilateral exports and the increase in investment opportunities over time depending on the liquidity in the UK market expected after all-time high…
“So, in order to enhance this important partnership, UK’s new partnership and our cultural or business relationships, needs to backed up by a robust legal system.
“It shows that any disputes arising out of the increased economic and commercial building between our two countries, can we get away with greater speed, efficiencies and improve transparency.”
Acting High Commissioner of India to the UK Sujit Ghosh added, “India and the UK are celebrating 75 years of establishment of a productive community and our relations are based on a shared economy in democracy. Our international relations are in a state of high growth trajectory.”