India and UK sign one-of-a-kind $1.4 Bn worth Trade deal, unveil 10-year long road map
Trade between the UK and India is worth about 23 billion pounds per year, and the British government hopes to double that by 2030 as India has been high on London's list of trade deal targets since Britain left the European Union last year.
India and the United Kingdom have announced one billion UK pounds ($1.39bn) of private-sector investment and have committed to seeking a free trade deal. This was ahead of a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Indian leader Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said India and Britain would start negotiations on an agreement “in the autumn”, following the announcement of a preliminary “Enhanced Trade Partnership” deal.
“We want to get these negotiations completed as soon as possible,” she told Sky News during a round of broadcast interviews touting the partnership package worth 1 billion ($1.4 billion, 1.2 billion euros).
A “Vision 2030″ document that charts out a revitalised partnership for the next decade across the entire spectrum of ties was another take away from the summit. “Through this ambitious roadmap, we will elevate the India-UK relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” it said. Progress on the roadmap would be reviewed every year by the two foreign ministers and reported to the two prime ministers.
In a separate statement, the UK India Business Council said free trade agreement is the right eventual goal and it is hugely encouraging that the ETP will address market access barriers and ease of doing business immediately and on an ongoing basis.
The investments include £240 million to be pumped in by SII for its vaccine business in Britain, and a new sales office that is expected to create a “large number of jobs”, the UK Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. SII’s sales office is expected to generate new business worth more than $1 billion, £200 million of which will be invested into the UK.
SII’s investment will also support clinical trials, research and development and possibly manufacturing of vaccines. This will help the UK and the world to defeat the pandemic and other deadly diseases. SII has already started phase one trials in the UK of a one-dose nasal vaccine for the coronavirus in partnership with Codagenix INC.
British businesses have secured new export deals with India worth more than £446 million, which are 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, to Indian hospitals under a deal worth £200 million.
It includes more than £533m of new investment from India into the UK, which is expected to create about 6,000 jobs.
Indian investment deals will create 1,000 new UK jobs each at health and tech firms Infosys, HCL Technologies and Mphasis.
Some 667 UK jobs will be created at Q-Rich Creations, 500 jobs at Wipro and 465 at 12 Agro.
“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,” said Boris Johnson.
The two leaders also discussed the Covid19 situation and ongoing cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, including the successful partnership on vaccines. Modi thanked Johnson for the prompt medical assistance provided by the UK in the wake of the severe second wave of Covid in India. Last week the UK sent £6 million worth of medical supplies to help India.
