The United Kingdom and India said they agreed on a long-standing free trade agreement that would reduce prices on Scottish whiskey and dozens of other products.
The agreement occurs more than three years after the negotiations start and stopped by a previous British government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that the agreement was “ambitious and mutually beneficial”.
While British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called him as a “monument” which was “a fantastic news for British affairs, British workers and British buyers”.
The British government said the agreement would reduce Indian import taxes on whiskey, cosmetics, medical goods, car and plane parts and other goods from the United Kingdom.
Whiskey and gin prices will be divided by two from 150% to 75% before falling to 40% by the 10th year of the agreement. Automotive prices will drop from more than 100% to 10% under a quota.
The Ministry of the Trade of India said that 99% of Indian exports will not face any import rights under the agreement.
“This brings us closer to our objective of becoming a global economic power. It protects our fundamental interests while opening doors to the largest participation of India in chains of global value,” said Indian Minister of Commerce, Piyush Goyal.
Modi's office said that the agreement covered the trade in goods and services and “would unlock a new potential for both nations to jointly develop products and services for global markets”.
Great Britain said the agreement should increase bilateral trade by 25.5 billion pounds Sterling (30 billion euros) per year “in the long term”.
Mark Kent, director general of the Scotch Whiskey Association, said that the agreement would be “transformative” for the industry.
India is one of the largest whiskey markets in the world and Kent said that the agreement had “the potential to increase the exports of Scottish whiskey to India by a billion pounds in the next five years”.
The agreement occurs while countries around the world are jostling to conclude trade agreements to compensate for the prices imposed by President Donald Trump to American trade partners.
Rain Newton-Smith, Director General of the Organization of Employers, the Confederation of British industry, said that the agreement with India was a “lighthouse of hope in the midst of the spectrum of protectionism”.
The trade negotiations of the United Kingdom-India started long before Trump's re-election with official talks beginning in 2022 that the then Minister of the bonus, Boris Johnson, praised as a key goal after the departure of the UK from the European Union in 2020.
ADVERTISEMENTJohnson promised to conclude an agreement by Diwali in October of the same year.
The two countries held 13 cycles of negotiations without breakthrough before the suspended discussions while the two nations held general elections in 2024.
Modi was re-elected and Great Britain replaced the conservative government with a part led by the Labor Party of Starmer.
The two leaders spoke by phone on Tuesday and Modi said he had quickly invited Starmer to visit India.
ADVERTISEMENTStarmer's office said that it would be “in the first opportunity”.
