UK, India agree trade deal after three years of talks

The UK and India have agreed a trade deal that will make it easier for UK firms to export whisky, cars and other products to India, and cut taxes on India’s clothing and footwear exports.

The deal comes after three years of on-off negotiations. The UK government said it did not include any change in immigration policy, including towards Indian students studying in the UK.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described it as a “landmark deal” which would boost growth and “deliver for British people and business”.

Last year trade between the UK and India totalled £41bn and was already forecast to grow, but the government said the deal would boost that trade by an additional £25.5bn a year by 2040.

India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, described the deal as an historic milestone that was “ambitious and mutually beneficial”.

The pact would help “catalyse trade, investment, growth, job creation, and innovation in both our economies”, Mr Modi said in a post on social media platform X.

Once it comes into force, which could take up to a year, UK consumers are likely to benefit from the reduction in tariffs on goods coming into the country from India, the Department for Business said.

The government also emphasised the benefit to economic growth and job creation from UK firms expanding exports to India.

The British government said the deal was the “biggest and most economically significant” bilateral trade agreement the UK had signed since leaving the European Union in 2020.

Credit: bbc.com

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