Not Just Trade, Modi & Sunak Took up Extradition, E-Visa Too

26-08-2023

12:23 PM

1 min read

Why In News:

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met PM Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali.

The bilateral relationship was upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2004.
During the May 2021 virtual summit between the PMs of both the countries, an ambitious ‘Roadmap 2030’ was adopted.
- This roadmap will pave a way to elevate bilateral ties to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’.
India was identified as a priority relationship for the UK in the 2021 Integrated Review and was invited by the UK as a guest to last year’s G7 in Carbis Bay.

Enhanced Trade Partnership’ (ETP)
- During the May 2021 virtual summit, India and UK launched an ‘Enhanced Trade Partnership’ (ETP).
- This was launched to unleash the trade potential between these two countries.
- It has set an ambitious target of more than doubling bilateral trade by 2030.
Trade
- During the FY 2021-22 (Apr-Jan) total trade in goods (merchandise) was USD 14.4 billion.
- Of this, India’s export to the UK was $ 8.5billion while India’s import from UK was $ 5.9 billion.
- During the FY 2020-21, total trade in service were £8.8 billion. It comprised of India’s export of £5.6 billion and India’s import of services from the UK of £3.2 billion
- UK is India’s 17th largest trading partner during the period of FY 2021-2022(Apr-Jan).
- In January 2022, India and the UK formally launched negotiations for an ambitious free trade agreement (FTA).
  - The FTA aims to double the bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030.
Investment
- India invested in 99 projects and created 4,830 new jobs in the UK to retain the position of second-largest source of FDI after the US in 2020.
- On the other hand, UK is the 6th largest inward investor in India after Mauritius, Singapore, USA, Netherlands, Japan.
- It has a cumulative equity investment of US $ 31.6 million (April 2000- December 2021), accounting for around 6% of all FDI into India.

During the 2015 visit of PM Modi to UK, a new Defence and International Security Partnership (DISP) was pledged by leaders of both the countries.
In October 2020, India and the UK reached the final stages of agreeing on a key defence logistics pact which will help in reciprocal use of airfields, bases, spares and supplies.
- After the pact, India can access ports and military bases from the Garrisons in the Gulf to Keeling Island in the South Indian Ocean and strategic military locations such as Busan and Okinawa.
- India will also be able to access Naval facilities in the Atlantic

2017 was celebrated as the India-UK year of Culture to mark the 70th anniversary of Indian independence.
Indian PM describes the connection between people of both the countries as a ‘living bridge’.
In August 2020, Britain announced its decision to mint a coin to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi.

UK PM Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons that he had discussed increasing the security cooperation with India when he met PM Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali.

On the UK-India trade deal
- PM Sunak said that officials of both the countries are working as quickly as possible to see if a successful conclusion can be brought to the negotiations.
  - Negotiations of FTA between the two countries started in January 2022.
  - The Government had hoped that these negotiations would be completed by October 2022 (by Diwali), but this deadline has been missed.
  - Last mile negotiations are stuck on issues linked to immigration and the alcohol industry, among others.
  - Also, the negotiation was derailed due to UK home minister Suella Braverman's comments over Indians overstaying their visas.
Finalized visa deal
- The U.K. has finalized a reciprocal migration deal with India.
- Under the deal, up to 3,000 visas will be granted to degree-educated young Indian nationals (18–30 years old) to work in the U.K. for up to two years.
- The same number of visas will be offered by India to Britons and will be available to people aged between 18 and 30.