British Prime Minister Keir Starmer embarked on a two-day visit to India on Wednesday, accompanied by more than a hundred leaders from the business, cultural, and university sectors with the aim of promoting a recently signed trade agreement.
In July of this year, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London, India and the UK signed a free trade agreement aimed at reducing tariffs on products such as textiles, whiskey, and automobiles, and allowing businesses to access more markets.
Negotiations for the free trade agreement between the UK and India were completed in May after three years of talks and several halts, accelerated by the shadow of the tariff war incited by former U.S. President Trump.
India and the UK are currently the fifth and sixth largest economies in the world respectively. Their goal is to increase bilateral trade by an additional £25.5 billion (approximately $34 billion USD) by 2040, which would be the UK’s largest trade agreement post-Brexit.
The UK government has stated that this estimate is a “baseline rather than a cap,” demonstrating their determination to enhance trade cooperation.
Prime Minister Starmer’s visit marks his first official trip to India. The delegation of 125 includes executives from companies such as British Airways, BP, Rolls-Royce Group Plc, and BT Group Plc.
“This is not just a deal, it’s a launchpad for economic growth,” Starmer expressed. He also added that India is expected to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2028, emphasizing the unprecedented opportunities at hand.
On Thursday, Starmer is set to hold bilateral talks with Modi and together attend the Global Fintech Festival in Mumbai. Both parties have expressed hopes to ratify the agreement within the next year and put it into effect.
Economic growth is a key priority for Starmer as he aims to reverse the trend of declining public opinion polls, with the November budget expected to reveal challenging fiscal conditions.
The delegation for this trip also includes representatives from beverage manufacturer Diageo and the Scotch Whisky Association. As per the UK-India trade agreement, the tariffs faced by UK businesses on whiskey will initially decrease from 150% to 75% and gradually be reduced to 40% over the next decade.