Ahead Of Modi-Boris Virtual Summit, UK Finalises GBP 1 Billion Worth Trade Deals With India

The British government on Monday said that it has finalised GBP 1 billion worth of trade and investment with India, creating over 6,500 jobs in Britain.The announcement comes just hours before the India-UK virtual summit commences on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a virtual meet with his British counterpart Boris Johnson today, to discuss bilateral trade ties among other issues. Announcing the summit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday that the two leaders will unveil a 10-year roadmap to further expand India-UK ties.

“A comprehensive roadmap 2030 will be launched during the summit, which will pave the way for further expanding and deepening India-UK cooperation over the next decade across five key areas,” the MEA said.

Elaborating on what the five key areas will be, the MEA said the summit will focus on people-to-people relationship, trade and prosperity, defence and security, climate action and healthcare. The investments confirmed by Downing Street on Monday evening form part of an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP), which the two leaders will formally sign off during their talks.

The ETP will set the ambition to double the value of UK-India trade by 2030 and declare a shared intent to begin work towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA). “Like every aspect of the UK-India relationship, the economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer,” said Johnson.

“Each and every one of the more than 6,500 jobs we have announced today will help families and communities build back from coronavirus and boost the British and Indian economies. In the decade ahead, with the help of (the) new partnership signed today and a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, we will double the value of our trading partnership with India and take the relationship between our two countries to new highs,” he said.

The trade and investment package unveiled by the British government contains over GBP 533 million of new Indian investment into the UK, covering areas such as healthcare and technology.

This includes a GBP 240 million investment by the Serum Institute of India (SII) in the UK into its vaccine business and a new sales office in the country, expected to generate new business worth over USD 1 billion. Serum Institute’s investment will support clinical trials, research and development and “possibly” manufacturing of vaccines, to help the UK and the world defeat the coronavirus pandemic and other deadly diseases, Downing Street said.British businesses have also secured new export deals with India worth more than GBP 446 million, which is expected to create more than 400 British jobs.

This includes CMR Surgical exporting its next-generation “Versius” surgical robotic system, which helps surgeons perform minimal access surgery being rolled out to hospitals in India.This export deal is worth GBP 200 million and will result in the creation of 100 new jobs in the UK.“With almost 1.4 billion people, India’s population is bigger than the EU and US combined and by far the largest market the UK has committed to negotiating a trade deal with to date,” Downing Street said.