India's trade deal with Britain is a sign of New Delhi's new gradual shift to opening up its markets while shielding crucial sectors from competition and could be its template for future agreements, government officials and analysts said on Friday.

CIM Goyal said the India-UK CETA is a gold standard of trade deals done by India, however, he added that no two trade deals can be the same, implying that the India-US deal is "fast progressing" but may take some more time.

The prime ministers of Britain and India have sealed a major trade agreement that will reduce tariffs on products like Scotch whisky and Indian spices.