'Close to finalising agreement with UK'

India and the United Kingdom have finalised most elements of the free trade agreement, with talks on the contentious bilateral investment treaty also initiated, a senior govt official said on Saturday. "While nothing is agreed till everything is agreed, we are very close to finalising the agreement," the official said, days after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman returned from the United Kingdom.

Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal is also headed to London and may provide the final impetus to the discussions on the matter, which have been in an on-and-off mode for almost two years because of the political situation in the United Kingdom.