Latest news with #Sunak
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
ITV News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
Minister called for MoD resignations over Afghan data leak
I said on News at Ten, it was extraordinary that after the government learned of the egregious Afghan data leak, no official or minister resigned. I have now learned that on August 23 2023, at the first meeting of the government's emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the security disaster, the then foreign office minister responsible for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said to the MoD's representative on the committee, General Sir Gwyn Jenkins, that obviously he would be resigning. He was, in her view, the responsible official, I am told, because at the time he was Director of Special Forces. The UK's special forces were in charge of the evacuation of Afghans who had helped British forces and were therefore at risk of being tortured and killed by the Taliban regime. Also, the massive data leak, which involved the names of 19,000 at-risk Afghans and around 100 British spies and special forces personnel, was the result of an email sent by a special forces told her that it was not going to happen; he would not be quitting. He didn't resign, and in fact he was chosen subsequently by the then prime minister Rishi Sunak to be National Security Adviser - though he never took up the post because Sir Keir Starmer preferred to appoint Jonathan Powell, who had worked in Tony Blair's Downing Street. Today, Jenkins is First Sea Lord and chief of the naval also said at that first Cobra meeting that there was a case for the chief of defence staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, to resign. He, too, remained in place. At that first meeting, ministers and officials were told of the catastrophic security breach, which risked the lives of Afghan aides to Western forces and British referees for their asylum applications. Around 100 of these referees were members of MI5, MI6, the Special Air Service (SAS), and the Special Boat Service (SBS). Despite the horror of what was revealed, a member of the committee told me that the prevailing view at the Ministry of Defence was that this was just an unfortunate accident that needed clearing up, and that no one was to blame. So, Cobra at that meeting, and subsequent ones, never included the most senior members of the government, such as Sunak, or the then-foreign secretary, James Cleverly. It was largely composed of officials, who regarded the challenge as an administrative one. Initially, officials on the committee argued that there was no obligation for the UK to evacuate many of the Afghans on the leaked list, because they had already been rejected for inclusion on the existing ARAP relocation scheme. 'It was extraordinary,' said a Cobra member. 'There was no recognition that simply by dint of being on the leaked list, these people were now in harm's way, and we had a responsibility to get them out.' Eventually, a decision was taken to set up a new evacuation scheme for those Afghans affected by the leak. Re-settling them to the UK was painfully slow because Sunak did not want them in hotels, and the MoD had difficulty finding other relevant properties. In the event, 6,900 Afghans, who were not eligible for other evacuation schemes, are being resettled in Britain as a direct result of the leak, under a plan called the Afghan Response Route. It was kept totally secret thanks to a controversial court super-injunction requested by then-defence secretary Grant defence secretary John Healey has said that just this scheme will cost £850m, though the total cost of resettling 18,500 Afghans is up to £7bn.
South Wales Guardian
16-07-2025
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Democracies around world must form new alliance to counter China, says Sunak
In his first major intervention on global affairs since leaving 10 Downing Street, he said existing alliances such as Nato and traditional free-trade arrangements were not sufficient to respond to Beijing. He suggested a grouping of democratic market economies could work together to reduce reliance on China for manufacturing and technology and have the combined industrial might to rival the Asian superpower's capacity to build military equipment. 'In an era of full-spectrum competition, we can't trade with rivals the same way we do with friends,' he said. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, he said democracies should band together or risk letting 'an authoritarian axis shape a new world order where might makes right, where technology bolsters authoritarianism and curtails individual liberty, and where trade is a weapon of coercion'. The former prime minister said: 'The next decade will be one of the most dangerous yet most transformational periods the world has ever seen. Democratic market states must seize this moment and shape it. 'If they don't, it will be the axis of authoritarian states — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — that takes advantage of this opportunity.' He said 'old-fashioned great power competition' is returning in the form of China presenting the US with a 'credible economic, technological and military rival for the first time in 40 years'. In a message to Donald Trump, he said: 'The US must realise that no country on its own can face down the axis of authoritarian states. 'But together, democratic market economies can outcompete any rival coalition and deliver peace and prosperity for their people.' He said a broader alliance than Nato was needed, spanning the Indo-Pacific as well as the the Euro-Atlantic. Mr Sunak said Jiangnan in China has more capacity than 'every US shipyard put together', but a combined allied production strategy with South Korea and Japan would allow competition with China on building up naval fleets. The economic strength of a democratic alliance could also persuade 'key global swing states' to back the US and its allies rather than China and Russia. Greater trade among allies would also reduce the 'economic pain' from breaking away from China in strategically important areas. Countries that fail to restrict technology transfer to China or leave themselves dependent on Chinese technology 'should be excluded from reciprocal free trade'. 'If China overtakes us in artificial intelligence, it will gain not only economic but strategic primacy, given its potential military applications,' he warned.
Glasgow Times
16-07-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Democracies around world must form new alliance to counter China, says Sunak
In his first major intervention on global affairs since leaving 10 Downing Street, he said existing alliances such as Nato and traditional free-trade arrangements were not sufficient to respond to Beijing. He suggested a grouping of democratic market economies could work together to reduce reliance on China for manufacturing and technology and have the combined industrial might to rival the Asian superpower's capacity to build military equipment. 'In an era of full-spectrum competition, we can't trade with rivals the same way we do with friends,' he said. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, he said democracies should band together or risk letting 'an authoritarian axis shape a new world order where might makes right, where technology bolsters authoritarianism and curtails individual liberty, and where trade is a weapon of coercion'. The former prime minister said: 'The next decade will be one of the most dangerous yet most transformational periods the world has ever seen. Democratic market states must seize this moment and shape it. 'If they don't, it will be the axis of authoritarian states — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — that takes advantage of this opportunity.' He said 'old-fashioned great power competition' is returning in the form of China presenting the US with a 'credible economic, technological and military rival for the first time in 40 years'. In a message to Donald Trump, he said: 'The US must realise that no country on its own can face down the axis of authoritarian states. 'But together, democratic market economies can outcompete any rival coalition and deliver peace and prosperity for their people.' He said a broader alliance than Nato was needed, spanning the Indo-Pacific as well as the the Euro-Atlantic. Mr Sunak said Jiangnan in China has more capacity than 'every US shipyard put together', but a combined allied production strategy with South Korea and Japan would allow competition with China on building up naval fleets. The economic strength of a democratic alliance could also persuade 'key global swing states' to back the US and its allies rather than China and Russia. Greater trade among allies would also reduce the 'economic pain' from breaking away from China in strategically important areas. Countries that fail to restrict technology transfer to China or leave themselves dependent on Chinese technology 'should be excluded from reciprocal free trade'. 'If China overtakes us in artificial intelligence, it will gain not only economic but strategic primacy, given its potential military applications,' he warned.
North Wales Chronicle
16-07-2025
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
Democracies around world must form new alliance to counter China, says Sunak
In his first major intervention on global affairs since leaving 10 Downing Street, he said existing alliances such as Nato and traditional free-trade arrangements were not sufficient to respond to Beijing. He suggested a grouping of democratic market economies could work together to reduce reliance on China for manufacturing and technology and have the combined industrial might to rival the Asian superpower's capacity to build military equipment. 'In an era of full-spectrum competition, we can't trade with rivals the same way we do with friends,' he said. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, he said democracies should band together or risk letting 'an authoritarian axis shape a new world order where might makes right, where technology bolsters authoritarianism and curtails individual liberty, and where trade is a weapon of coercion'. The former prime minister said: 'The next decade will be one of the most dangerous yet most transformational periods the world has ever seen. Democratic market states must seize this moment and shape it. 'If they don't, it will be the axis of authoritarian states — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — that takes advantage of this opportunity.' He said 'old-fashioned great power competition' is returning in the form of China presenting the US with a 'credible economic, technological and military rival for the first time in 40 years'. In a message to Donald Trump, he said: 'The US must realise that no country on its own can face down the axis of authoritarian states. 'But together, democratic market economies can outcompete any rival coalition and deliver peace and prosperity for their people.' He said a broader alliance than Nato was needed, spanning the Indo-Pacific as well as the the Euro-Atlantic. Mr Sunak said Jiangnan in China has more capacity than 'every US shipyard put together', but a combined allied production strategy with South Korea and Japan would allow competition with China on building up naval fleets. The economic strength of a democratic alliance could also persuade 'key global swing states' to back the US and its allies rather than China and Russia. Greater trade among allies would also reduce the 'economic pain' from breaking away from China in strategically important areas. Countries that fail to restrict technology transfer to China or leave themselves dependent on Chinese technology 'should be excluded from reciprocal free trade'. 'If China overtakes us in artificial intelligence, it will gain not only economic but strategic primacy, given its potential military applications,' he warned.
