Speaking at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the magnificent home of India’s president, in April 2002, former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s assessment of free trade agreement (FTA) talks between the UK and India was typically confident. “We are telling our negotiators: get it done by Diwali in October,” he said after receiving a ceremonial welcome on the grounds of the colonial-era building designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. But as often proved the case when Mr. Johnson promised to get things done, his actions sadly failed to meet the lofty ambition of his words. Two years on, the promised FTA is yet to be signed.
Encouragingly, the Labour government has made clear its determination to complete the task, a commitment underlined by visits to India this year by senior figures including Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, and Foreign Minister David Lammy who said: “Our Free Trade Agreement negotiations is the floor not the ceiling of our ambitions to unlock our shared potential and deliver growth, from Bengaluru to Birmingham.”
