Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Støre on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: With the prime ministers of the two nations meeting in Rio de Janeiro, London has announced the relaunch of the negotiations between India and the United Kingdom for a free trade agreement even as New Delhi has insisted on the extradition of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and other fugitive economic offenders.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his United Kingdom counterpart Keir Starmer agreed on the need to progress on the issue of migration and mobility which proved to be thorny issues during the negotiations for the trade agreement so far.
Modi told Starmer that India would open two new Consulates General of India in the UK – one in Belfast and another in Manchester.
The two prime ministers met on the sideline of the G20 Summit hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. This was the first meeting between the two leaders after Starmer succeeded Rishi Sunak as the prime minister of the UK.
“For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UK is of immense priority. In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas, such as technology, green energy, security, innovation, and technology. We also want to add strength to trade as well as cultural linkages,” the prime minister posted on X after meeting his UK counterpart.
Starmer also took X to call his meeting with Modi “very productive”. “A new trade deal will support jobs and prosperity in the UK – and represent a step forward in our mission to deliver growth and opportunity across the country.”
The negotiations for the India-UK FTA had started in January 2022. Modi and his then counterpart Boris Johnson had set Diwali in October 2022 as the deadline to conclude the negotiation. The negotiators, however, not only missed the deadline but could not even clinch the deal even as the Diwalis in the subsequent two years passed. The two sides had concluded negotiations on 19 of the 26 proposed chapters of the trade agreement by the time the 14th round of negotiations ended in March, just before the parliamentary elections commenced in India, followed by that in the UK.
An FTA is expected to raise the India-UK bilateral trade which increased to $21.34 billion in 2023-24 from $20.36 billion in 2022-23.
New Delhi has been pressing London to make it easier for India’s Information Technology and healthcare professionals to travel to and work in the UK. The new leader of the British Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, who earlier served as the former business and trade secretary of the British Government, claimed that she had blocked the FTA over India’s demands for more UK visas for its professionals. Starmer’s Labour Government in London, however, is also likely to take a tough stand on the issue to ensure that the proposed UK-India FTA gets support from the opposition parties.
London has also been pressing New Delhi hard for duty concessions on exports of chocolates, lamb meat, electric vehicles, and scotch whisky from the UK to India.
During his meeting with Starmer, Modi noted the importance of addressing the issue of economic offenders from India in the UK, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
Mallya had in 2020 sought asylum in the UK, in an attempt to avoid extradition to India, where he would have to stand trial for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines’ default of bank loans to the tune of about Rs 9000 crore. He had already exhausted all his legal options to avoid extradition to India. His plea for asylum remains under consideration by the British Government and he continues to live in the UK.
Nirav, along with his uncle Mehul Choksi, allegedly defrauded the Punjab National Bank of Rs 13500 crore before fleeing to the UK. He also exhausted all his legal options to avoid extradition to India, but remains in a jail in the UK.