The U.K.-India relationship is alive with opportunity

General Studies Paper 2

Introduction

• It is fantastic to see India, the world’s largest democracy, take the global stage as host of the G-20, a vital forum for fostering international cooperation. The United Kingdom has long held the belief in trade as a force for growth and prosperity. It is why we advocate for free and fair trade at the World Trade Organization and why we are taking advantage of our newly recovered powers to forge trade deals with booming economies such as India.

India and UK

• As India’s middle class grows to a quarter of a billion middle class consumers by 2050, any improvements on our current trading relationship could be a huge boost for U.K. businesses.
• It is no secret that the U.K. and India share a thriving trading relationship, which was worth £36 billion in 2022.
• New figures from the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade reveal that India retained its position as the U.K.’s second largest source of investment projects in the last financial year.
• And, importantly, our trade and investment relationship goes both ways. In fact, as India’s sixth largest investor, between April 2000 and March 2023, the U.K. has invested $34 billion in India in foreign direct investment.
• K. companies are also creating jobs and growth opportunities. There are 618 U.K. companies in India employing about 466,640 people directly as of 2021.

The ambitious FTA, a strong partnership

• Both parties are underway to discuss progress on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement, which could boost India’s bilateral trading relationship even further.
• The U.K. and India’s strong partnership extends far beyond trade and investment into culture, sport, education and tourism too.
• To borrow a phrase from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there is very much a ‘living bridge’ between our nations — you only have to look at our shared love of Bollywood to see this in action.
• As one of Bollywood’s largest audiences outside of India, the U.K. has featured in some of Bollywood’s iconic films.
• A vibrant Indian diaspora of over 1.6 million people makes a significant contribution across all walks of life in the U.K., from education through to the workforce, with Indian students making up one of the U.K.’s largest groups of international students.

Marketing campaign

• K. is launching ‘Alive with Opportunity’, a £1.5 million marketing campaign designed to showcase the tremendous bond between our countries and build on the continuous exchange of people, ideas and culture.
• As part of the U.K.’s ambitions to double trade with India by 2030, the campaign aims to stimulate interest and demand for U.K. goods and services, increase the U.K.’s ability to grow their business through trade with India, and attract new Indian inward investment.

Conclusion

• Over the course of the next year one can expect to see a celebration of the business, trade, cultural, and sporting links between the U.K. and India across billboards shining a light on this relationship which is very much alive with opportunity.