'India-UK FTA historic, serves as template for discussions with US, EU': CII President

India's recently signed free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom is "historic" and could serve as a "gold standard" for similar discussions with other regions like the United States and Europe, said Sanjiv Puri, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). In an interview with Aggam Walia and Soumyarendra Barik, Puri also spoke about how the private sector in India needs to substantially increase its R&D spends for national development, why private capex is only a part of the overall economic development agenda, and whether India needs to revisit its trade relationship with China. Edited excerpts: The UK…