UK, India ink huge investment deals

The British and Indian governments unveiled new trade and investment deals worth 1 billion pounds ($1.39 billion) on Tuesday.

The agreements, which include more than 533 million pounds of investment into the United Kingdom from India, are part of a "new partnership" that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said will "pave the way" for a future UK-India free trade agreement later this year.

"The economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer," the BBC quoted Johnson as saying ahead of an online meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That virtual meeting replaced a previously planned trip Johnson was set to make to India that was called off in the face of rising novel coronavirus infection rates there.

Johnson optimistically told reporters: "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."

The deals, which Johnson said could create more than 6,500 jobs in the UK, mainly in the health and technology sectors, include a 240 million pound investment by the Serum Institute of India to fund clinical trials and research connected to the manufacture of vaccines.

Closer ties

The deals also open the door to more trade with India for British fruit producers and the nation's makers of medical equipment.

Dharshini David, the BBC's global trade correspondent, said London wants to build closer ties with the nation because it is one of the world's most populous and fastest-growing, economically.

UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss told Sky News, ahead of a meeting with her counterpart in the Indian government, that the agreement was "a win-win for both countries".

"It's about helping India with the immediate COVID crisis but also helping India build back better after the COVID crisis," she said, adding talks between London and New Delhi on a full free-trade agreement would begin in the fall.

But experts warned India has been hard to please in free-trade negotiations in the past, often calling for easy access to visas for its workers, something that has capsized potential deals with nations including Australia and New Zealand.

The Independent newspaper reported on Tuesday the "enhanced partnership" between the UK and India could be overshadowed by a full free trade agreement between India and the European Union.

The paper said talks on a deal between the nation and the bloc that were paused in 2013 could be restarted following a telephone call on Monday between Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and Modi.