Trade deal with India ‘will kick off five-star year of partnerships’
BRITAIN will look to sign a major free trade deal with India this year to build on the strong relationship between the two countries.
International Trade Secretary Anne-marie Trevelyan will fly to New Delhi this week to begin talks for a Uk-india agreement.
The minister said this will start “a five-star year of UK trade” as economic partnerships are forged across the globe.
India is seen as key to this, with its economy set to become the world’s third biggest by 2050.
A source said last night: “There is no hard deadline, as such, but we are keen to negotiate this deal apace and the ambition is to bring it home by the end of the year.”
Trade in goods and services with India was already worth £23.3billion before the relationship was boosted following last year’s signing of the Uk-india Enhanced Trade Partnership.
During the two-day visit, Ms Trevelyan and counterpart Piyush Goyal will co-host the 15th Uk-india Joint Economic and Trade Committee and discuss a range of issues including green trade and the removal of market access barriers.
Britain has already surpassed France and Germany combined to become India’s largest Western investor, ploughing more than £21billion into the subcontinent during the last two decades.
The UK’S 1.5 millionstrong Indian diaspora combined with Indianowned firms showed a turnover of around £85billion last year, and paid more than £1.7billion in taxes.
During her visit Ms Trevelyan, a former defence minister, will also attend a roundtable with Indian
Defence
Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar to promote future Uk-india defence collaboration.
More than 30 UK defence companies regularly attend India’s biggest defence expo, Defexpo, which has given rise to a government-to-government agreement to jointly develop a new jet engine.
But the relationship extends beyond trade. In 2020 Deepak Bagla, managing director and CEO of Invest India, spoke of deep historical ties between both nations, saying: “For India, the UK is our closest relationship and closest partnership. Britain gave us and left behind some of the best presents we have today.
“Look at our railways – we haven’t added much in the way of kilometres. Last year Indians made eight billion journeys on our railway network.”
In the same year, minister for external affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar praised Britain’s postbrexit ambitions.
He said: “We in Asia certainly see the UK as a country with a lot of influence in different parts of the world. My own sense is that sometimes the British themselves underestimate that influence.”
India’s status as one of the world’s leading democracies also provides binding ties.
The trade secretary’s meeting with defence minister Kumar will also discuss strategic co-operation in the Indo-pacific.
Speaking last night, she said: “The UK and India are already close friends and trading partners, and building on that strong relationship is a priority for 2022.
“I will be using my visit to drive forward an ambitious trade agenda.
“This is just the start of a fivestar year of UK trade, forging closer economic partnerships around the globe.”