New Delhi: A change in political guard in the United Kingdom is unlikely to impact the proposed free trade agreement deal with India, though some tweaks could be likely, trade experts said.The Labour Party gained a landslide majority in Thursday’s parliamentary elections and dealt a bruising defeat to incumbent Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. “Smooth transition of current talks will take place as the Labour Party has shown support to the trade deal with India,” said Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries. The Labour Party holds a different position on social service payments and totalisation issues, he said, adding that this could be an arena of discussion in upcoming rounds of talks. Arpita Mukherjee, economic policy researcher, India Council on International Economic Relations, said the Labour Party is not looking for a mini trade deal, instead a fully-fledged FTA, which essentially will require political will and comprehensive approach from both sides of the government. “There needs to be a structured framework for regulatory cooperation with timelines as the basis for FTA among both the nations,” she said, adding that it would need to cater specific demands from both the nations.Ahead of the UK general election, the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) had released its manifesto for stronger UK-India partnership entitled Partnership for Growth. The report recognised India as an increasingly important geopolitical player and a major economy – soon to be the world’s third largest – and sets out why the new UK government must prioritise its partnership with India.The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the Labour Party is expected to recognize the substantial benefits of the FTA as it opens access to a large and growing Indian market, bypassing high tariff barriers, and it may give approval to the FTA with minor adjustments like curtailing number of visas for Indian professionals. “This could set the stage for the agreement to be signed as early as October this year,” GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said.
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