Free trade agreement projected to boost UK economy by £4.8bn a year and attract £6bn of investment
Free trade agreement projected to boost UK economy by £4.8bn a year and attract £6bn of investment
Keir Starmer and Narendra Modi have hailed a “historic day” as they signed a free trade agreement between the UK and India.
The two leaders said the trade deal, which is projected to boost the UK economy by £4.8bn a year and bring in £6bn of investment by British and Indian businesses, marked a “step-change” in relations between their countries.
Modi and Starmer addressed cameras at Chequers, the prime minister’s country house near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, after signing the deal, which was finalised in May following nearly three and a half years of negotiations. Modi, speaking via a translator, described the UK and India as “natural partners”.
The agreement will result in average tariffs on UK goods being cut from 15% to 3%, with whisky tariffs halved initially and reduced further over the next few years. It still needs to be ratified by the British and Indian parliaments, a process that will take several months.
Critics have argued that the deal does not offer enough for the UK’s financial and legal services industries and have raised questions over India’s human rights and environmental record.
