India-Britain Relation / If our party comes to power, we will re-launch relations with India - Sunak's opponent David Lammy

India-Britain Relation: UK Labour Party MP and Shadow Foreign Minister David Lammy has said that if his party comes to power, they will work on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India on priority. Apart from this, the strategic partnership between Britain and India will also be taken forward. Criticizing PM Sunak's Conservative Party, David said that the party has been in power since 2010. Many Diwalis have passed so far, but the Conservative Party has not signed a trade deal with India. They always made big promises regarding relations with India but did not take the necessary steps to fulfill them.

Addressing the India Global Forum in London, David said, "We need to re-launch our relations with India. I appeal to India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to support us in completing the trade deal as soon as possible. The Labor Party is ready for this."

MP said- Trade with India has to be increased, FTA is its foundation

The Labour Party MP said, "No matter who is in the government, our relations with India are very important. Today India is our 12th largest trading partner. We have to change this. The focus of the partnership of both the countries is on economic development, India-UK security and global security. The Free Trade Agreement is the foundation of these relations."

Praising India's democratic structure, David Lammy congratulated PM Modi on his third term. He said that if the Labour Party wins, he is ready to work closely with the Indian government. India, home to 1.4 billion people, is a superpower.

David said, "We need to start our relations with the Global South afresh. Its first stop will be India. Today 94% of the trains there run on electricity, whereas in Britain this figure is only 38%. We need to learn from India."

Free trade deal stuck on scotch, car and visa

Discussions on trade between India and Britain started in January 2022. Its goal is to promote bilateral trade of the two countries, which is currently more than 4 lakh crores. So far 14 rounds of meetings have been held between the two countries regarding the FTA deal. However, this agreement has not been signed yet.

Talking about FTA last year, Rishi Sunak had said that this deal will be done only if it is in the interest of Britain. Actually, the deal on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Britain is stuck due to disagreement on issues like scotch, car and visa. India is not ready to reduce taxes on scotch and cars, while Britain is not ready to give more visas to Indian professionals.

Visas should be given to 10 thousand Indian professionals

India is adamant that visas should be given to 10 thousand professionals of Indian firms investing in Britain. Britain says that visa rules are same for everyone, India cannot be given special status.

At the same time, Britain demands that trade related disputes should be heard in international courts and not in Indian courts. India is not ready for this. With this, consensus has been reached on only 13 out of 26 issues on FTA like jewellery, textile, food products.

What is a free trade agreement?

The two-way trade between India and Britain is worth Rs 4 lakh crore. After the free trade agreement, there will be major tax relief. Britain started a strategic partnership with India in 2004. It is with India in terrorism, nuclear activities and civil space program.