UK to relaunch trade talks with India, seeks ‘new strategic partnership’
RIO DE JANEIRO : India and the U.K. have decided to re-launch discussions to conclude a ‘free trade’ deal in the new year, following the election of a new Labour government in the U.K.
The announcement of the imminent resumption of talks, which began in 2022 during the Boris Johnson Conservative government, was announced by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, following a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in Rio de Janeiro, on the fringes of the G20 Summit.
“A new trade deal with India will support jobs and prosperity in the UK,” Starmer, whose Labour Party was elected to power in July, said.
The British leader also met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit in Rio de Janeiro, calling on him to establish “consistent, durable” relations between their two nations and saying he would like to engage on areas such as trade, the economy and climate.
Starmer has pledged to secure the fastest sustained economic growth for Britain among the Group of Seven countries. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development has predicted that British growth in 2025 would be the lowest of the G7.
The previous Conservative government held years-long trade talks with New Delhi, but they ended in March without a deal, with a British official saying an agreement could not be finalised ahead of the Indian elections.
Total trade between India and Britain, currently the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies, was worth 42 billion pounds ($53.2 billion) in the 12 months to June, with British exports to India valued at 16.6 billion pounds.
Before India’s April 19-June 1 general election, which handed Modi a rare third term, government sources said that he was likely to prioritise completion of free trade deals with Britain and Oman if he were to be e-elected.
Previous sticking points in the trade talks between the two countries have included a steep import duty on British whiskey for sale in India and India’s demand for more visas for Indian students and businesses.