Voice of Commonwealth

£1bn UK-India trade deals will create 6,000 UK jobs- Boris Johnson

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Successive trade deals and FDIs will not only help the UK to create much-needed employments, but, also help realise its cherished goal of a Global Britain.

Strengthening bilateral as well as multilateral trade relations across Asian-Pacific region in general and with India in particular is of paramount important to establish Britain’s role as a countervailing power in the region and trade diplomacy plays a vital role in this context.       

Trade deal 

The £1bn worth trade deal with India includes more than £533m of new investment from India into the UK, which is anticipated to create about 6,000 jobs.

Downing Street stated that the new partnership will “pave the way” for a future UK-India Free Trade Agreement.

“The economic links between our countries make our people stronger and safer,” said Mr Johnson.

The deal declared prior to a virtual meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, includes a £240m investment by the Serum Institute of India, which will support clinical trials, research and possibly the manufacturing of vaccines.

Serum has already commenced phase one trials in the UK of a one-dose nasal vaccine for coronavirus, in partnership with Codagenix.

Indian investment deals will make 1,000 new UK jobs each at health and tech firms Infosys, HCL Technologies and Mphasis.

Furthermore, some 667 UK jobs will be created at Q-Rich Creations, 500 jobs at Wipro and 465 at 12 Agro.

“Each and every one of the more than 6,500 jobs we have announced today will help families and communities build back from coronavirus and boost the British and Indian economies,” said Mr Johnson.

Besides the deal, British businesses have secured export deals with India worth more than £446m, which are expected to create more than 400 British jobs.

Among them is a £200m deal involving CMR Surgical, which will make 100 new UK jobs.

The company’s next-generation ‘Versius’ surgical robotic system – which assists surgeons perform minimal access surgery – will be rolled out to hospitals in India.

Trade between the UK and India is already worth around £23bn a year, helping more than half a million jobs.

Mr Johnson said: “In the decade ahead, with the help of new partnership signed today and a comprehensive free trade agreement, we will double the value of our trading partnership with India and take the relationship between our two countries to new highs.”

However, PM had been forced to cancel a planned visit to Delhi due to the surge in corona virus and as India battling with a brutal second wave of coronavirus cases.

The visit was planned to foster closer ties between the two countries and had first been scheduled for January.

The UK’s approach to make more and more trade deals, particularly, with India, leading to a fully-fledged Free Trade Agreement would create win-win situation for both nations. Besides, such bilateral and multilateral trade deals would substantially expand British’s footprint in the region, aiding it to fortify its position on the world stage as a benevolent force to be reckoned with.

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