 "Boris Johnson")
India-UK trade is just scratching the surface and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to India will build momentum towards a multi-fold increase in goods and services trade, a British industry chief said on Thursday.
Lord Karan Bilimoria, the Indian-origin president of the Confederation of British Industry, is in New Delhi for the business-level interactions scheduled as part of the prime ministerial visit on Friday.
The founder of the Cobra Beer brand, who heads up the industry body that speaks on behalf of 190,000 British businesses, also expressed his optimism that an India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) can be concluded by the end of this year.
"Firms will welcome the GBP 1 billion new investment announcements in India, but the point I do want to make is that we are still scratching the surface when it comes to UK-India trade," Lord Bilimoria told PTI.
"We are bilaterally doing GBP 24 billion worth of trade in goods and services and, in my view, it should be a multi-fold of that given the scale of the two economies. With Canada, UK trade is about GBP 20 billion. With China, on the other hand, UK trade is over GBP 90 billion, so we should be doing much more with India. We've got targets to try and double it by 2030, but I believe we can do much more than that and an FTA will really help to scale up the level of trade, he said.
As a UK-based business leader who has been part of every prime ministerial visit since Tony Blair visited India in 2005, Bilimoria pointed to the long gap since the last time a UK Prime Minister visited after the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in two cancelled visits last year.
"This is long overdue. The last prime ministerial visit was Theresa May five and half years ago It's also very timely as we are in the midst of FTA negotiations. This is a very opportune moment to come to the country to help that move along, keep that momentum going because we want to try and get an FTA agreed ideally by the end of this year, said Bilimoria.
The entrepreneur was equally optimistic about Johnson's further sped-up timeline of autumn, or around October this year. The Confederation of British Industry has been instrumental in pushing through the UK's other recent FTAs, including ones with Australia and New Zealand, and is playing an active role in the India FTA negotiations as they enter the third round of talks in New Delhi next week.
"Where there is a will, there is a way. It is certainly possible. If the Australia FTA could be done in one year, there is no reason why we can't with India, said Bilimoria.
"On the other side, India has just concluded a free trade deal with the UAE in less than three months. And, another deal with Australia was done very rapidly. So, the Indians have shown they can conclude trade deals rapidly, the UK has shown the same and both have the will to conclude the UK-India one rapidly, it can be done, he said.
The business leader also welcomed Johnson's visa-friendly statements en route to India, highlighting that youth mobility and ease of travel would be an important aspect of any deal.
"We have an acute labour shortage in the UK across all sectors. So, if there are skilled Indians who fulfil the requirements, then we should be welcoming them. The National Health Service (NHS) would collapse without Indian doctors. There is a big shortage of doctors and nurses. If the Indians can come in to address that, it's a win-win, he pointed out.
Besides, he stressed that closer defence and security ties are also important as he rooted for the UK to join the Quad currently made up of India, Japan, Australia and the US.
"The UK could join the Quad; why can't the UK join a strategic, security alliance with India, added Bilimoria.
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