Britain wants to agree a free trade deal with India by Diwali later this month, Prime Minister Liz Truss’s spokesman said on Wednesday.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who met Indian leader Narendra Modi in April, set the ambitious goal of signing the FTA at the end of October during India’s festival of lights, Diwali.
Asked if the government still wants a trade deal by that date, Truss official spokesman Max Blain said the government still hopes to secure a trade deal with India by the end of October, “which will put Britain in the queue for supplies India’s growing middle class would boost the UK economy by more than £3 billion by 2035.” Blain declined to comment on statements allegedly made by Braverman about migration. “There are complex negotiations going on on a number of issues,” he told reporters at a regular briefing on Wednesday.
Talks between India and the UK have ticked a box over easier access to thousands of skilled workers from the South Asian nation, which is likely to push the conclusion of a free trade deal beyond the October deadline.
India’s position has hardened in the ongoing negotiations amid concerns about migration from India, expressed by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
New Delhi is also seeking to recover half a billion pounds in payments made by Indian workers to Britain’s social security system as part of the deal, people familiar with the matter said.
Additionally, the UK’s offer to limit the free movement of skilled workers would skew the proposed trade deal in Britain’s favor and would not be a win-win for either nation, the people said.
