Britain will “further cement” its “global trading role” with a free trade deal with India, a leading Brexiteer has said.
Talks have begun for the 12th round of trade negotiations for what is widely viewed as one of the biggest prizes of all post-Brexit agreements the UK could strike.
Conservative MP David Jones said a pact with New Delhi will continue the shift away from the “declining” EU after Britain joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Indo-Pacific trade bloc.
Mr Jones, who is deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Tory backbenchers, told the Express: “A free trade agreement with India will further cement the new, global trading role that the UK is forging post-Brexit.
“After our accession to the CPTPP, a deal with India will continue the pivot away from the EU, and its declining share of world trade, toward the dynamic new economies of Asia. Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch deserve full credit for these tremendous achievements.”
David Campbell Bannerman, a Brexiteer who as an MEP served for many years on the European Parliament’s trade committee, said Britain is “surging ahead” now it is unshackled from Brussels.
He said: “As a major economy now just ahead in size of the UK’s, India has enormous potential for UK exports in services and high-quality goods from UK-built Tata Jaguars to fashion goods and Scotch whisky.
“India currently places 150 percent tariffs on what it sees as luxury goods which create huge market barriers.
“Remove these and our exports can surge and earn our economy billions more.
“This is yet another example of an independent Britain free of EU chains surging ahead post Brexit, not falling back as we were misleadingly told.
“This is yet more clear blue and red water between us and the EU. It will become a huge hit to pull out of such a deal in any mad bid to try to rejoin the EU.”
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch declared that Brexit doom-mongers have been “proved decisively wrong” ahead of a visit to India for a meeting of G20 ministers this week.
Government sources said the talks are entering the most difficult and complex phases.
The UK has already secured post-Brexit deals with 73 countries as well as Brussels, accounting for £1.1 trillion of trade in 2022.
The first free trade agreements negotiated from scratch with Australia and New Zealand came into force in May.
And in the biggest post-Brexit deal to date, Britain joined the bumper CPTPP in March.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “The UK and India are committed to working towards the best deal possible for both sides.
“We’ve made good progress in closing chapters, and are now laser-focused on goods, services, and investment.
“While we cannot comment on ongoing negotiations, we are clear that we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, balanced, and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy.”
