What happens with the rulers? While they have an incomparable time on the chair, their psychology does not allow them to accept the truth once they are thrown out of the chair. The same is happening with Britain, once an empire upon which the sun never set. But the United Kingdom today is in recession. The looming recession threat has not been able to bring the UK out of the colonial slumber and the nation is endangering its FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with India, the fifth largest economy of the world.
India Britain Free Trade Agreement hanging by a slim thread
India-UK Free Trade Agreement was about to close by Diwali but now the situations seem different. As per reports, the Free Trade Agreement negotiations no longer have a Diwali deadline. However, during his visit to India in April This year, the former PM Boris Johson had announced the Diwali timeline for closing the deal during his India visit in April this year.
“We are close. We’re still working on a deal. One of the things that has changed is that we are no longer working to the Diwali deadline,” UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch told the BBC making it official.
While the political turmoil that took place in the UK was expected to deter the situation, Suella Braverman’s comments have made the road ahead a bit difficult.
The culprit- Suella Braverman
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary who replaced Priti Patel, said that she feared a trade deal with India would increase migration to the UK. She accused Indians of being the largest group of visa overstayers in the UK.
While speaking to ‘The Spectator’, Braverman asserted that Indians are the worst visa overstayers and threatened to oppose any deal offering to ease already stiff visa conditions for Indians. “Look at migration in this country – the largest group of people who overstay are Indian migrants,” she said.
Suella Braverman is an Indian-origin British home secretary who with her critical remarks is threatening to torpedo UK hopes of clinching a free trade deal with India.
India’s response to the Free Trade Agreement humiliation
As per reports, India is clearly upset and disappointed with Braverman’s statement. It was reported that the ministers in India were “shocked and disappointed” by the “disrespectful” remarks made by Braverman. As per a report by Politico, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may put his UK visit during Diwali onto the back seat.
However, British PM Liz Truss’ spokesman has claimed that Britain still wants a free trade deal (Free Trade Agreement) with India by Diwali and wants to have an even stronger relation with India. Well, that was ought to happen looking at the political stability and economic might of India.
The economic might of India
The winters are coming and the winters are not going to be as warm for Europe and Britain as it used to happen earlier. The sanctions war that Europe was fighting to appease old Joe has come to bite it back.
Together, America and Europe imposed economic sanctions against Russia. Putin responded by weaponizing energy exports to Europe and this has led Europe in general and the UK in specific straight into the mouth of an energy as well as economic crisis.
However, when most of the developed world is fearing recession, India walks towards becoming the world’s third largest economy by FY28. India, recently overtook the UK by $27 billion.
Liz Truss is just Boris Johnson 2.0
As soon as Liz Truss came to power, we at TFI made an analysis that Liz Truss will add no taste to the cooked meal and will prove to be just Johnson 2.0. However, crossing our expectations, Truss has proved to be even worse. No other Prime Minister would ever dare to threaten an FTA with a nation like India when your own country is stepping into recession. Truss till date has done no damage control and Braverman is still enjoying her chair.
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