India-UK trade relations
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, while starting his two-day visit to India on Wednesday, said that he wants to implement the new trade agreement with India as soon as possible. His visit is taking place with more than a hundred leaders from the fields of business, culture and education. The purpose of this visit is to further improve the growing trade between the two countries.
India and Britain signed a free trade agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Britain in July. Under this agreement, there has been talk of reducing taxes on many things including clothes, whiskey, cars and making the market easier for business. This agreement was fully prepared in May after three years of negotiations. The special thing is that on this agreement both the countries have set a target of increasing their bilateral trade to 34 billion dollars by 2040.
Why is this deal important?
Reuters report said that Britain and India are the fifth and sixth largest economies in the world. This trade agreement between the two countries will greatly benefit economic cooperation. Especially after Brexit, Britain is trying to strengthen its economic relations by signing new trade agreements. Big companies like BP, Rolls-Royce and BT are also playing an important role in making this agreement successful.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer told business representatives as soon as he reached Mumbai that this agreement will bring huge opportunities for both the countries. He told his team that it is his priority to implement this agreement soon so that business opportunities can reach people as soon as possible.
Talks and future plans of both the countries
According to a Reuters report, Starmer will meet Prime Minister Modi on Thursday. Both the leaders have expressed their desire to implement this agreement within the next year. This step will strengthen not only economic but also political relations between the two countries. The business community in Britain is also excited about this agreement. Chevon Haviland, head of the British Chambers of Commerce, has said that the government should avoid imposing high taxes on businesses and should pursue development by building strong relations with countries like India.
Britain’s strategy amid challenges
At present there are many challenges in global trade, such as the US tariff dispute. Amidst all this, this initiative of Britain is an important step towards increasing trade with India. The government believes that with a free trade agreement, Britain can deal with the complexities of global trade and will also try to reduce US tariffs.