The Editorial Analysis- Side-Stepping Irritants

India- UK Relations- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Recently, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited New Delhi, India, after two last-minute cancellations due to waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2021.
The British Prime Minister said that the UK is committed to more cooperation with India on trade, defence, combating climate change and cyber security.

Early harvest agreement on trade: Though it was to be concluded by this April but both leaders agreed to complete the full FTA by October-end or Deepavali.
- This is done with a view to doubling bilateral trade by 2030.
- Johnson sounded optimistic, with India fast-tracking its FTAs with the UAE and Australia.
Lifting of Indian tariffs on Scotch whisky: This concern of UK might make some headway, as India has accepted lower tariffs on Australian wine.
Professional Visas: The U.K. seems more flexible in increasing visas to Indian professionals.
Cooperation in Indo-Pacific: Both Prime Ministers discussed strengthening defence ties and cooperating strategically in the Indo-Pacific.
Cooperation on Climate Change: India-UK also discussed green technology transfers and international climate finance.
- However, India is yet to commit in writing to the Nationally Determined Contributions that Mr. Modi had described at COP26 in Glasgow.
On Russia-Ukraine War: British PM referred to India’s long-standing relationship with Russia, expressing understanding of India’s position, in stark contrast to the visit of his Foreign Minister two weeks ago.
Countering Extremism: A sub-group is to be set up to study “extremism” inside India and the U.K., which Mr. Johnson suggested would be used to monitor Khalistani groups.
- It also has a broader mandate to counter all groups and individuals “seeking to incite violent extremism and terrorism”.

While side-stepping irritants in the relationship can increase the prospects for agreements, it cannot replace the actual work and elbow grease needed to give ties some momentum after years of stasis.
Both New Delhi and London must ensure more concerted efforts to bring those agreements to a finale in the near future, to reach their ambitious goals under “Roadmap 2030” agreed to at the last summit in 2021.

shivam