UK PM Rishi Sunak reiterates commitment to FTA with India

''Before I came into politics, I invested in businesses around the world. And the opportunity in the Indo-Pacific is compelling,'' Sunak said in his first major foreign policy speech since taking charge at 10 Downing Street last month.

He was delivering a talk at the Lord Mayor of London's Banquet.

''By 2050, the Indo-Pacific will deliver over half of global growth compared with just a quarter from Europe and North America combined. That's why we're joining the Trans-Pacific trade deal, the CPTPP, delivering a new FTA with India and pursuing one with Indonesia,'' he was quoted as saying by global newswires.

The United Kingdom and India launched negotiations for an FTA in January this year, aiming to conclude talks by October, but the deadline was missed due to a lack of consensus on issues.

The focus of the FTA negotiations is on reducing the barriers to trade, cutting tariffs, and supporting easier imports and exports into each other's markets.

On China, Sunak cautioned: ''Let's be clear, the so-called 'golden era' is over, along with the naïve idea that trade would lead to social and political reform. But nor should we rely on simplistic Cold War rhetoric. We recognise China poses a systemic challenge to our values and interests, a challenge that grows more acute as it moves towards even greater authoritarianism.”.

He ruled out any alignment with European Union (EU) law in favour of cooperation on shared issues such as illegal migration.

He also committed that the UK would stand by Ukraine in its conflict with Russia as part of Europe's ‘collective resolve’ to protect democratic values.

''Under my leadership, we won't choose the status quo. We will do things differently. We will evolve, anchored always by our enduring belief in freedom, openness and the rule of law and confident that in this moment of challenge and competition our interests will be protected… and our values will prevail," he concluded.

The Lord Mayor's Banquet at Guildhall is an annual event where the UK prime minister addresses business leaders, international dignitaries and foreign policy experts on the subject of foreign policy.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)