UK trade mission on ‘last gasp’ mission to clinch free trade deal before Indian elections

The British have embarked on a “last-gasp” effort to clinch a free trade deal with India before the looming Indian general elections pull down the curtain on negotiations.

But unless the UK is prepared to make big concessions, the delegation that flew to India could be on “Mission Impossible.”

A UK government official told local media ahead of the delegation’s departure Monday that the team led by a senior civil servant was making one “last-gasp attempt to secure an FTA before the Indian election campaign pauses talks”. India’s Model Code of Conduct will go into force in a few weeks once the election dates are published.

The India-UK FTA pact would be the most deep and wide-ranging trade agreement ever signed by India. Of the 26 chapters, in-principle agreement or broad consensus has been reached on 24 chapters.

For Britain, an FTA with India would be the biggest trade prize since Brexit.

But there may be just too many stumbling blocks in the way of a pre-election FTA pact such as India’s demand for more visas for Indian workers, analysts say. India also wants the green light to claw back social security payments Indian workers, mostly in the IT sector, make while working temporarily in the UK.

Easier visa entry for Indians is a big no-no for the far Right of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party. Sunak is already in hot water with Conservative hardliners over just-published net migration that hit a new high of 745,000 in 2022.