UK and India to sign trade deal

BRITAIN and India are on course to sign a full trade deal by the end of the year, India’s High Commissioner said last night.

It follows the first round of talks, which covered 26 policy areas in 32 sessions.

Gaitri Issar Kumar told the Sunday Express that while both sides were at a “crucial juncture”, mutual priorities were set out when Britain left the EU in January 2020 and much ground work had been laid.

She said: “Both governments committed to an Enhanced Trade Partnership in which lowhanging fruits would be the focus for an interim agreement.”

They are being followed by further negotiations on the more challenging aspects in trade and services. This led to the formal launching of an Enhanced Trade Partnership in May last year.

She confirmed that – just like the UK – India was committed “to working towards concluding a comprehensive FTA by December 2022 or early 2023, with an Interim Agreement as soon as possible”.

Some stumbling blocks do remain. These include the socalled social security agreement – India’s demand that Indian businesses operating in Britain be allowed to cut costs of bringing in skilled professionals on a short-term basis, including pension contributions.

For the UK, contentious issues include legal services and the export of luxury products such as Scotchwhisky.

India is the world’s largest whisky market but, while Scotch imports have tripled in the last decade, punitive 150 per cent import tariffs aimed at protecting indigenous brands mean the UK still only has two per cent of the market.

And, with both sides having agreed to make the deal “futureproof”, they will have to work hard to reach an agreement on harmonising digital data rules.

This will span cross-border data transfers, the protection of personal details, transparent access to government information and consumer protection online.

Indian sources last night confirmed PM Boris Johnson’s assertion that the sticky visa issue – tailoring entry requirements to make it more attractive for Indian professionals and students to live and work here – would not have to be decided in order for an FTA to be struck.

Richard Heald, chairman of the UK India Business Council, said: “This deal will be very significant. India will be the third biggest economy by the middle of this century.

“Both sides are identifying areas where they can have interim agreements which will give momentum to the process.”

And James Rogers, of the Council of Geostrategy, added: “Achieving an important trade deal this quickly while efforts between India and the EU languish is a key benefit of Brexit.

“And the fact that India remains one of the world’s key democracies shows what global Britain is all about.”

‘It will be very

significant’