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Indian Express
6 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
India-UK Free Trade Deal: Starmer's Labour government, unlike the Conservatives, is in tune with New Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing visit to the United Kingdom is his first both since 2021 and under a Labour government. Today, India and the UK signed the free trade deal. The visit and the deal are reflections of deeper strategic shifts. Despite three Conservative prime ministers in that interval — Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak — none could secure a reciprocal visit. Now, within a year of Keir Starmer's election victory, Modi is in London. The timing is more than symbolic, it's strategic. The visit offers a quiet rebuke to the rhetoric-heavy but deliverable-light Conservative decade. It also signals India's readiness to work with a Labour Party that has rebranded itself away from the Jeremy Corbyn-era posture New Delhi once viewed with suspicion. More significantly, this reset brings with it a transformed global order. Donald Trump is back in the White House. China continues to test the boundaries of multilateralism. And India, pursuing strategic autonomy, is strengthening relationships with middle powers that offer substance without volatility. The past decade of Conservative governments often showcased symbolic gestures toward India but saw limited progress on core issues. Modi's last UK trip, in November 2021 for the CoP26 summit under Johnson, focused on climate talks and the 2030 Roadmap. That document laid out a promising vision of enhanced cooperation across trade, defence, and technology. But the groundwork largely stagnated thereafter. Sunak's premiership (2022–2024) was expected to mark a turning point. His Indian heritage was frequently cited as a diplomatic asset, and his government did keep the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks alive. However, progress proved elusive. The mobility of professionals, work visas, and mutual market access became sticking points. For a post-Brexit UK struggling with internal divisions over immigration and labour, meaningful compromise with India was politically untenable. Beyond trade, Conservative governments failed to convert shared interests — like Indo-Pacific coordination or defence industrial collaboration — into formalised outcomes. Political churn in the UK didn't help: Five prime ministers in seven years left little room for sustained foreign policy execution. Meanwhile, India stayed patient. Modi skipped a state-level visit throughout Sunak's term, even as the British PM attended the G20 Summit in Delhi and expressed willingness to deepen ties. The message from Delhi was implicit: Personal symbolism alone cannot compensate for institutional incoherence. Labour's electoral return under Starmer comes after a deliberate recalibration of its India posture. Under Corbyn, Labour was viewed in India as a party uncomfortably aligned with activist diaspora factions. Controversial motions on Kashmir, particularly the 2019 resolution calling for international intervention post-Article 370, had soured perceptions in New Delhi. The 2019 UK election saw many British-Indian voters swing towards the Conservatives in response. Starmer recognised the damage and methodically course-corrected. From 2021 onward, he emphasised bilateralism over diasporic activism, discouraged party-level interventions on India's internal matters, and made concerted outreach efforts to the British-Indian business community. By the time Labour entered the 2024 election, its manifesto made no mention of Kashmir — signaling a quiet break from the Corbyn line. This recalibration did not go unnoticed in New Delhi. Modi's current visit is as much an endorsement of Labour's new posture as it is a reflection of India's evolving foreign policy playbook. The Modi government, known for its pragmatism in global alignments, now sees Labour as capable of delivering on long-stalled areas like migration pathways, tech partnerships, and defence production linkages. Crucially, Starmer's administration arrives at a moment when India is reassessing its global bets. The return of Trump to the US presidency has reintroduced volatility into a relationship India had carefully institutionalised over the last four years. Trump's track record — a mix of performative warmth ('Howdy Modi') and unexpected diplomacy (Kashmir mediation offers) — makes policy predictability a concern once again. While India-US ties remain deep — especially on technology and defence — Trump's dalliance with Pakistan's military remains in Indian memory. With Washington's course uncertain, New Delhi is investing heavily in European ties that promise depth without drama. Modi's visit to the UK in July 2025 also reflects broader shifts in India's worldview. Strategic autonomy remains the guiding principle, but its execution now depends on diversifying partnerships that offer both geopolitical insulation and economic upside. In that sense, the UK — post-Brexit, realigning, and eager to redefine its global relevance — fits neatly into India's multipolar strategy. The China question looms large. For both India and the UK, the economic fallout of dependency on China, along with Beijing's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, has created shared urgency. Labour's foreign policy team is expected to take a firmer line on Beijing, aligned with US and EU concerns but filtered through a post-Brexit lens. For India, which has faced continued tensions along the LAC, this opens space for tighter cooperation on digital supply chains, rare earths, cybersecurity, and infrastructure resilience. Unlike previous UK-India engagements that leaned heavily on diaspora imagery — such as the mega Modi rallies in Wembley (2015) or the repeated invocations of 'shared heritage'— this visit under Labour is quiet, businesslike, and domain-specific. It reflects a maturing of the relationship, moving from optics to outcome. The focus: FTA revival, joint tech innovation, defence industrial cooperation, and mobility partnerships in higher education and healthcare. Perhaps most importantly, Starmer's government does not carry the ideological burden or migration rigidity that constrained Sunak's Conservatives. There is space now to negotiate mutually beneficial frameworks — on skilled visas, education corridors, and fintech regulations—without being trapped by right-wing redlines or nostalgia-driven narratives. The fact that Modi has chosen to visit the UK under Labour reveals much about how India now ranks its diplomatic priorities. It is not identity, sentiment, or shared cultural heritage that matters most — it is institutional reliability and deliverable-focused diplomacy. The writer works at High Commission of Grenada in London
Business Mayor
11-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
FTAs enable participation in global value chain, India Inc looks forward to more such deals: CII President
New Delhi: Indian industries are looking forward to more free trade agreements (FTAs) because such trade pacts are the key enablers for participating in the global value chain, said Sanjiv Puri, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Managing Director of MD Puri said that after the FTA with the United Kingdom, the industry is also keen to have a trade deal with the United States. 'Industry is very keen to have the FTAs because these are important enablers to participate in global value chains, which are 70 per cent of the global trade. So, the industry is very much looking forward to it,' CII President and ITC MD Sanjiv Puri said. 'We know that both the other FTAs are strong focuses of the government and there's a possibility of (Trade deal with) the US one by autumn and the EU – there was this EU president along with a large number of the cabinet ministers here in India – a commitment was made that by the end of the year they should get signed so we are hoping these within the timelines,' Puri further added. Puri went on to state that focusing on agriculture is needed to increase the income and consumption of the people employed by the sector. Industry body CII welcomed the India-UK FTA, adding that it is guided by the 2030 Roadmap. The timely agreement will help advance a comprehensive strategic partnership between India and the UK, steering bilateral trade towards the ambitious target of USD 100 billion by 2030, the CII had Commerce and Industry Ministry on May 9 highlighted the importance of FTAs, adding that such trade agreements make India more competitive with markets like the United States of America, China, and to APEDA, India will gain ground over the USA, China, and Thailand in processed food. We will become more competitive than the USA, China, Thailand, and Vietnam in bakery items, said an official. The official statement added that the recently concluded FTA with the UK is a 'totally job-orientated deal'. The trade between India and the UK will double by 2030, creating millions of jobs and increasing our overall exports to the UK. However, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in a report highlights potential risks to the domestic industry, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), due to increased foreign competition. GTRI further adds that India should draw lessons from the recently concluded US-UK trade deal and be cautious on a deal with America for its bilateral trade deal. READ SOURCE
Time of India
11-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
FTAs enable participation in global value chain, India Inc looks forward to more such deals: CII President
Live Events New Delhi: Indian industries are looking forward to more free trade agreements (FTAs) because such trade pacts are the key enablers for participating in the global value chain, said Sanjiv Puri, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Managing Director of ITC ITC MD Puri said that after the FTA with the United Kingdom, the industry is also keen to have a trade deal with the United States."Industry is very keen to have the FTAs because these are important enablers to participate in global value chains, which are 70 per cent of the global trade. So, the industry is very much looking forward to it," CII President and ITC MD Sanjiv Puri said."We know that both the other FTAs are strong focuses of the government and there's a possibility of (Trade deal with) the US one by autumn and the EU - there was this EU president along with a large number of the cabinet ministers here in India - a commitment was made that by the end of the year they should get signed so we are hoping these within the timelines," Puri further went on to state that focusing on agriculture is needed to increase the income and consumption of the people employed by the body CII welcomed the India-UK FTA, adding that it is guided by the 2030 Roadmap. The timely agreement will help advance a comprehensive strategic partnership between India and the UK, steering bilateral trade towards the ambitious target of USD 100 billion by 2030, the CII had Commerce and Industry Ministry on May 9 highlighted the importance of FTAs, adding that such trade agreements make India more competitive with markets like the United States of America, China, and to APEDA, India will gain ground over the USA, China, and Thailand in processed food. We will become more competitive than the USA, China, Thailand, and Vietnam in bakery items, said an official statement added that the recently concluded FTA with the UK is a "totally job-orientated deal".The trade between India and the UK will double by 2030, creating millions of jobs and increasing our overall exports to the the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in a report highlights potential risks to the domestic industry, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), due to increased foreign further adds that India should draw lessons from the recently concluded US-UK trade deal and be cautious on a deal with America for its bilateral trade deal.
India Gazette
10-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
FTAs enable participation in global value chain, India Inc looks forward to more such deals: CII President
New Delhi [India], May 10 (ANI): Indian industries are looking forward to more free trade agreements (FTAs) because such trade pacts are the key enablers for participating in the global value chain, said Sanjiv Puri, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Managing Director of ITC. ITC MD Puri said that after the FTA with the United Kingdom, the industry is also keen to have a trade deal with the United States. 'Industry is very keen to have the FTAs because these are important enablers to participate in global value chains, which are 70 per cent of the global trade. So, the industry is very much looking forward to it,' CII President and ITC MD Sanjiv Puri said. 'We know that both the other FTAs are strong focuses of the government and there's a possibility of (Trade deal with) the US one by autumn and the EU - there was this EU president along with a large number of the cabinet ministers here in India - a commitment was made that by the end of the year they should get signed so we are hoping these within the timelines,' Puri further added. Puri went on to state that focusing on agriculture is needed to increase the income and consumption of the people employed by the sector. Industry body CII welcomed the India-UK FTA, adding that it is guided by the 2030 Roadmap. The timely agreement will help advance a comprehensive strategic partnership between India and the UK, steering bilateral trade towards the ambitious target of USD 100 billion by 2030, the CII had added. The Commerce and Industry Ministry on May 9 highlighted the importance of FTAs, adding that such trade agreements make India more competitive with markets like the United States of America, China, and Brazil. According to APEDA, India will gain ground over the USA, China, and Thailand in processed food. We will become more competitive than the USA, China, Thailand, and Vietnam in bakery items, said an official. The official statement added that the recently concluded FTA with the UK is a 'totally job-orientated deal'. The trade between India and the UK will double by 2030, creating millions of jobs and increasing our overall exports to the UK. However, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) in a report highlights potential risks to the domestic industry, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), due to increased foreign competition. GTRI further adds that India should draw lessons from the recently concluded US-UK trade deal and be cautious on a deal with America for its bilateral trade deal. (ANI)
