Looking to the future of Anglo Indian relations

Rt Hon Rishi Sunak was chosen by the majority of Conservative MPs to replace Liz Truss as the UK's Prime Minsister on October 25th 2022 thus becoming the country's first British Asian PM. Sunak has previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Boris Johnson's government. His appointment as PM brings in new commitments and hopes for stronger India-UK relations. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rung to congratulate Mr Sunak. Both leaders discussed the improvement of bilateral relations, particularly in the areas of defence, people and trade and agreed on the necessity to reach a Free Trade Agreement between the UK and India before the end of the year. 

Rushi Sunak on the India-UK Relationship

India’s bilateral relationship with the UK has been cordial for decades, thanks to the cultural and historical heritage that both countries share. This cordialilty in relations is expected to continue during Sunak's tenure, especially given his Indian parentage (the PM's parents emigrated from India to the UK in the 1960s). As Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak always called for stronger India-UK ties and has always considered India as a “big trading opportunity” for the UK. 

Undoubtedly Prime Minister Sunak will face stiff challenges with the war in Ukraine, the rise in energy costs, and the internal social unrest caused by inflation. As a consequence, India-UK relations may not be his initial priority.  But during his phone call with Prime Minister Modi he said that he was “very, very committed” to the bilateral relations between India and the UK describing himself as "a visual representation of the historic links between the UK and India". He said that he looked forward to negotiating a trade deal covering everything “from life sciences to technology and to agriculture”. He also mentioned that some of the “best and the brightest minds are in India”. And, evidently, he wants the UK to profit from these "bright minds". He will probably want to modify the visa system to make entry to the UK easier for Indians who want to invest in the UK's economy and who can enhance it. But this could pose a problem for Sunak : he may want to encourage entry to Britain for the "brightest" and "richest" of India's population, but he may not want to open the UK borders to too many poorer Indians who seek to improve their lives by settling in Britain. 

How does India perceive it?

India looks at its relationship with the UK from a multi-dimensional perspective. ‘Trade’ definitely remains a priority but there are other domains as well where talks are already underway between the two countries.

In terms of trade, currently, UK is India’s 18^th largest trading partner and in 2019 India became the second-largest source of Foreign Direct Investment for the UK. Both countries will now try to complete a deal to improve trade relations over the next decade. Commitments are underway to get a Free Trade Alliance deal before  the end of 2022 (a target set by the previous government of Boris Johnson but which has been delayed by the political instability in the UK over the last months). 

Apart from the trade relations, India is also looking at widening its areas of cooperation with the UK in the domains of education, health, technology, climate change, research and defence. Both countries are working towards extending the UKIERI (UK-India Education and Research Initiative) to bring research and people involved therein together. There are also talks underway between the two countries for collaborating on ‘clean energy’ as part of the climate change initiatives.  The two countries are also looking at ways to ease the migration process for their nationals. These areas were already under consideration with the previous UK government and India is will be determined to see that they are not forgotten. 

Towards a common defence strategy

Both the countries might also look at expanding their defence and strategic ties. The new Prime Minister will certainly want to work closely with India and other “freedom-loving democracies” to “build a global network of liberty”. This is evidently an attempt to create a strategic barrier againt the China-Russia alliance and to limit the economic and military dominance of China in Asia. The idea is that the UK and India could be the major partners in a military alliance of democratic countries across Europe and Asia.