On 24 February 2025, the UK Department for Business and Trade confirmed that negotiations towards a trade deal between the UK and India have resumed.
The previous UK government entered negotiations with India in 2022, but no agreement has been reached since. Following a bilateral meeting with India’s prime minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in November 2024, UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed plans to relaunch UK-India trade talks in 2025.
Now, these talks have begun. In a joint statement, Shri Piyush Goyal, minister for commerce and industry of India, and Jonathan Reynolds MP, UK secretary of state for the Department for Business and Trade, confirmed that negotiations towards a trade deal have resumed.
The pair said: “India and the United Kingdom have a close partnership, built through collaboration on security and defence, new and emerging technologies, climate, health, education, research and innovation, green finance and people-to-people contacts. At the centre of this relationship is the collective aspiration to deliver economic growth and sustainable development.
“Both sides have agreed to resume negotiations towards a balanced, mutually beneficial and a forward-looking deal that delivers mutual growth and builds on the strengths of the two complementary economies.
“The strengthening of the trading relationship between our two countries has the potential to unlock opportunities for business and consumers across both our nations and build further on our already deep ties.”
Data published on 21 February 2025 by the UK Department for Business and Trade shows that the total value of trade in goods and services between the UK and India was £40.9 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2024. This marks an increase of 8.6% (or £3.2bn in current prices) from the previous period.
Total UK exports to India amounted to £17.5bn – up 16.1% (or £2.4bn), while imports from India amounted to £23.4bn – up 3.6% (or £812 million). According to this govenment factsheet, India was the UK’s 11th largest trading partner in the 12-month period to the end of Q3 2024, accounting for 2.4% of total UK trade.
These negotiations come at a turbulent time for international trade, as the introduction of tariffs for imports to the US continue and the UK government balances maintaining its trading relationship with the US with its relationship with the European Union.
