I have just returned from accompanying Sir Kier Starmer to India for the first prime minister delegation to India in 9 years.
I have had the privilege of accompanying every prime minister on their visit to India, starting with Tony Blair in 2005, followed by Gordon Brown, David Cameron and the last was Theresa May in November 2016.
The UK and India signed a free trade agreement after three and a half years of negotiations in July, in Chequers. I was privileged to be present.
Prime Minister Kier Starmer has lead one of the largest prime ministerial business delegations of 125 business leaders from all sectors, including manufacturing and services, business organisations such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) UK, which I Chair, the Confederation of British Industry, which I was president of, and several university leaders, ministers and the press.
The visit has made a huge impact and clearly sent the message that the UK means business with regards to India, it faced the most spectacular welcome I have seen, with thousands of posters of Starmer with Prime Minister Modi lining the streets of Mumbai between the airport and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, with such a warm welcome from Mumbai, the state of Maharashtra and India. The bond between the prime ministers was visibly warm and strong.
The bilateral trade between the UK and India currently stands at £43 billion. The UK is the sixth largest economy in the world and India is the 4th, within a few years India will be the 3rd largest economy of the world.
India’s GDP is currently growing at 6.5% per annum. When I spoke at the finance minister of India’s Kautilya Economic Conference, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India’s target is 8% growth.
India is the fastest growing economy in the world and is yet only the 11th largest trading partner of the UK, it should be one of the largest handful of trading partners. I believe as a result of the FTA and the prime ministerial delegation, we can double bilateral trade in goods and services between the UK and India within 5 years.
Over and above this, we can greatly enhance the investment from the UK to India and from India to the UK. India, which now allows foreign university campuses, and as a result UK universities which are best in the world alongside the US, are now committing to open campuses in India. This is great news for the UK and India.
There is also huge scope to collaborate in technology, including fintech and AI, the introduction of identity cards in India, given India’s expertise in implementing Aadhar cards to over a billion people, and India’s phenomenal digital stack where India stands ready to help the UK.
India is no longer an outsourcing destination. It is a partner, be it in research and development, in innovation, in trade and business, and in security and defence.
The future is extremely bright for these two trusted partners.
(The author is a British Indian businessman, member of the House of Lords, and former Chancellor of the University of Birmingham.)
