3 years, 14 rounds: Deal clinched hours before start of Sindoor

NEW DELHI: The trade deal with UK may have been under negotiation for three years but the seeds were sown 18 years ago – on June 28, 2007, when India began talks for a Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement.It was a day after Tony Blair quit as the UK PM, having done some groundwork for the talks. But it was not until Brexit and India’s decision to exit RCEP that talks for a trade deal with the UK actually began.Having opted out of China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, govt stepped up engagement with developed countries – from the UK and EU to Australia – hoping to open new markets for Indian goods and services. It meant reviving talks that had been on the backburner, as the Modi govt was reluctant to sign FTAs during its first term.The UK deal appeared smooth as long as Boris Johnson occupied 10 Downing Street. In April 2022, three months after negotiations began, Johnson set a Diwali deadline. Less than three months later, he stepped down, and the deal went on the backburner as UK grappled with uncertainty.Several members of Rishi Sunak’s cabinet publicly expressed concerns over visa concessions, though discussions were on business visas.Finally, it was Keir Starmer who decided to go ahead with the deal at a time when pressure from US was mounting. It took three years and 14 rounds of negotiations for the deal to be finalised, hours before the start of Operation Sindoor.