Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday said he wanted a trade deal with India to be implemented as soon as “humanly possible” as he began a two-day visit, joined by more than a hundred leaders from the business, culture, and university sectors.
Britain and India signed a free trade agreement in July during a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sealing a deal to cut tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky and cars, and allow more market access for businesses.
Talks on the trade pact were concluded in May after three years of stop-start negotiations, with both sides hastening efforts to clinch a deal amid tariff turbulence unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The agreement between New Delhi and London aims to increase bilateral trade by a further 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion) by 2040. But the UK government has called the projections are a floor, not a ceiling, to the deal’s ambitions.
Starmer eyes Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal
The two-day visit, which includes executives from oil major BP, engine maker Rolls-Royce, and telecom firm BT, is aimed at maximising Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal.
“It provides huge opportunities,” Starmer told the delegates of the trade mission on arrival in Mumbai, adding that he had asked his team to implement the deal as “quickly as humanly possible.”
“I think the opportunities are already opening up... Our job is to make it easier for you to seize the opportunities,” he said.
Starmer is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Modi on Thursday. Both sides have said they are looking to ratify the deal and bring it into effect within the next year.
Growth is one of Starmer’s key priorities as he seeks to reverse his Labour party’s slide in the polls, with a November fiscal budget expected to reflect a tricky fiscal picture.
Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce business group, said that Starmer should avoid taxing businesses again at the budget, but also drive growth through building ties with countries like India and the Gulf, where trade talks are ongoing.
“We’ve got partners all over the world, and that should be our role,” she told reporters, adding that Britain could seek free trade deals while also dealing with fallout from a global trade war and negotiating to lower U.S. tariffs, saying, “I think that the government is big enough to do both.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
Britain and India signed a free trade agreement in July during a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sealing a deal to cut tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky and cars, and allow more market access for businesses.
Talks on the trade pact were concluded in May after three years of stop-start negotiations, with both sides hastening efforts to clinch a deal amid tariff turbulence unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The agreement between New Delhi and London aims to increase bilateral trade by a further 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion) by 2040. But the UK government has called the projections are a floor, not a ceiling, to the deal’s ambitions.
Starmer eyes Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal
The two-day visit, which includes executives from oil major BP, engine maker Rolls-Royce, and telecom firm BT, is aimed at maximising Britain’s biggest post-Brexit trade deal.
“It provides huge opportunities,” Starmer told the delegates of the trade mission on arrival in Mumbai, adding that he had asked his team to implement the deal as “quickly as humanly possible.”
“I think the opportunities are already opening up... Our job is to make it easier for you to seize the opportunities,” he said.
Starmer is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Modi on Thursday. Both sides have said they are looking to ratify the deal and bring it into effect within the next year.
Growth is one of Starmer’s key priorities as he seeks to reverse his Labour party’s slide in the polls, with a November fiscal budget expected to reflect a tricky fiscal picture.
Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce business group, said that Starmer should avoid taxing businesses again at the budget, but also drive growth through building ties with countries like India and the Gulf, where trade talks are ongoing.
“We’ve got partners all over the world, and that should be our role,” she told reporters, adding that Britain could seek free trade deals while also dealing with fallout from a global trade war and negotiating to lower U.S. tariffs, saying, “I think that the government is big enough to do both.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
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