FOREIGN secretary David Lammy has said prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s upcoming visit to India paves the road for “a very, very exciting new era” as both leaders are expected to formally sign the free trade agreement (FTA).
Lammy visited India last Saturday (7), when he met prime minister Narendra Modi and foreign secretary S Jaishankar in Delhi. The foreign secretary previously travelled to Pakistan in May, following the attack in Indian Kashmir in April.
In remarks to a question by Eastern Eye, Lammy would not be drawn on when Starmer would make the trip to Delhi, but the foreign secretary said it will “be soon”.
“I’m very excited that my trip comes anticipating the meeting between prime ministers Starmer and Modi and the official signing of that FTA that marks a new era,” Lammy said.
He added, “This was something that our predecessors said they would deliver by Diwali. Successive Diwalis have passed, and it wasn’t delivered, but we rolled up our sleeves. We got on with it. We made it happen.
“This is a very exciting time. There’ll be lots that comes out of that trip that prime minister Starmer makes to India, and as I say, it paves the road for a very, very exciting new era.”
This is the third visit to India by the foreign secretary in the past 15 month. The first was just before Labour won the general election last July, when he and Jonathan Reynolds (then shadow business secretary) went to Delhi.
There have been a series of high-level ministerial visits between Delhi and London, with the most recent ones made by Jaishankar and India’s minister for commerce and industry, Piyush Goyal, days before the FTA was finalised by India and the UK.
Lammy said from New Delhi last Saturday, “This has been a wonderful visit. It’s against a backdrop of a very exciting new era for our two countries that builds on the FTA that we have signed.”
He pointed out that his meetings with Modi overran this time and previously as well.
Lammy said, “Our enduring links are rooted in celebrating the unique living bridge that exists between our people, including a 1.9 million strong Indian diaspora in the UK that gives our country so very, very much.
David Lammy is welcomed by S Jaishankar in Delhi last Saturday (7)
“It’s a living bridge that connects us across culture, education, food, sport, business, industry.
“What we talked about was cultural cooperation, we talked about prime minister Starmer’s upcoming trip to India, how we can forge and deepen education links.
“This was a conversation of two very close allies ambitious for our future.”
Lammy was in Islamabad last month, soon after the de-escalation of the conflict between India and Pakistan after terrorists shot dead Indian tourists in Pahalgam, an attack Delhi blamed on Pakistan, but which the latter denied.
He said last Saturday that “it was always the intention that I would go to Pakistan”.
The United Kingdom has strong links with both countries and in both countries, the foreign secretary said, adding, “I’ve discussed a range of issues. The UK is a friend and partner to both India and Pakistan. This is not about picking sides, and I want to be clear that we welcome the cessation of fighting.
“We welcome the dialogue that I have been able to have in both countries. We want to see de-escalation, and we are in a de-escalatory period, at this time.
“And here in India, we were discussing with our Indian partners the threats of terrorism and how we can do more to counter terrorism, (by) working together.”
Lammy said, “It is important for the United Kingdom, as a friend of both countries, to be able to play our role in encouraging de-escalation.
I have been able to discuss here in India, key issues around counter terrorism and threats that exist to India and regional security, and I was able to discuss, when I was in Pakistan, issues around terrorism in Pakistan, and indeed, Pakistan is a country where there is a considerable loss of life to the terrorist menace.”
In New Delhi, Jaishankar said last Saturday the trade deal with Britain was “truly a milestone” that will boost bilateral ties as he welcomed Lammy to the capital.
“The recent conclusion of the IndiaUK FTA... is truly a milestone which will not only propel our two-way trade and investment but will also have a positive effect on other strategic aspects of our bilateral ties,” Jaishankar said after meeting Lammy.
“It would also contribute to the strengthening of supply and value chains,” the Indian minister added.
The FTA will slash tariffs on imports of UK goods into India, including whisky, cosmetics and medical devices.
In exchange, Britain will cut tariffs on imports of clothes, footwear and food products, including frozen prawns, from India. Britain and India are the sixth- and fifth-largest global economies respectively, with a trade relationship worth around £41 billion and investment supporting more than 600,000 jobs in both countries.
They hope the free-trade agreement will increase trade between them by about 25.5 billion pounds, as well as boost the British economy and wages.
Labour MP Kanishka Narayan told Eastern Eye the FTA means “in the long run, more than £2 billion in extra wages for British workers”.
He added, “It means our access to a huge and one of the fastest growing markets in the world, including for British farmers and British beverage makers. And more than anything else, I think it means a deeper relationship with the country that we share fundamental values with.”
The new MP also visited India last year, following Labour’s landslide win last July.
Narayan said on Monday (9), “We’re in a more insecure world, generally, and in that context, it is incumbent on us to make sure we are building the deepest relationships with countries we have a long history and hopefully a very exciting future. The fact that we’ve been able to do this with India, that we have followed up with the United States and with Europe, means that Britain is going to be most resilient in what I think is a more and more insecure and uncertain world, both on trade and on security as well.”
Narayan also expressed his optimism for an imminent visit to India by Starmer.
He said, “I know the prime minister and the foreign secretary both will be deeply committed, personally, to making sure we’re able to make our commitment to the FTA very clear in person.
“When it happens, there’s a question for the prime minister’s team, but from my point of view, my hope is as soon as possible, we’ve announced a deal in less than a year, and I hope that we’ll, we’ll get it signed and ticked off very, very soon.”
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images) 