Ink India-Britain free trade, unlock new opportunity
The HinduIn May last year, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson announced their shared vision for a transformative decade for the India-United Kingdom partnership. Both governments have already taken action; for example, unlocking the export of British apples to India and enabling a greater number of Indian fisheries to export shrimp to the U.K. Small but meaningful steps by which both countries have demonstrated they can and have taken concrete measures to stimulate growth. On January 13, 2022 in New Delhi, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and the U.K.’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan announced their shared ambition to finish negotiations on a comprehensive and balanced FTA by the end of 2022. This includes: Barclays which has its biggest office outside of London in Pune, whilst JCB’s products manufactured in India are exported to over 110 countries across the globe, as are those by consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever headquartered in Mumbai; just two of many examples of British companies supporting Prime Minister Modi’s vision for an Atmanirbhar Bharat. Freer trade with the U.K. will help through greater access to a highly open and competitive market, offering valuable opportunities for India’s booming companies — for example giving Bengaluru’s start-ups direct access to London’s capital markets.