Rishi Sunak’s hopes of triumphant India visit to seal trade deal during Cricket World Cup fade amid squabbling over visas and access to markets

Rishi Sunak’s hopes of making a triumphant visit to India to seal a trade deal this month look to have faded.

There had been speculation the PM would travel to the subcontinent to sign off terms in the coming weeks.

Cricket-mad Mr Sunak could have tied in the trip with watching the World Cup, where England is defending their title.

However, the tour is now regarded as ‘very, very unlikely to happen’ after the negotiating teams failed to settle spats over visas and access to markets.

The UK and India had a £36billion trading relationship in 2022/23 but successive premiers have been eager to deepen ties with the fast-growing economy and its 1.4billion citizens.

There had initially been hopes Rishi Sunak would ink terms with Narendra Modi (pictured together) when he attended the G20 in India last month

There had been speculation the PM (pictured last month with wife Akshata) would travel to the subcontinent to sign off terms in the coming weeks

Boris Johnson originally targeted a finalising an agreement in October last year, but India’s desire for more visas to be granted to study and work in Britain has been a sticking point.

There had initially been hopes Mr Sunak would ink terms when he attended the G20 in India last month, but that came to nothing. 

Downing Street insisted the PM will not rush a pact, after Liz Truss was criticised for forcing through an overly-generous deal with Australia.

Allies have been mooting a further trip by Mr Sunak – whose billionaire in-laws live in India – this month. It has been conceived as a colourful celebration of long-standing cultural links between the nations. 

But one government official told the Financial Times: ‘The discussions are not where we want them to be.’ 

They complained that New Delhi was concentrating on what they ‘want’ to secure rather than what they ‘need’.

Britain is keen to widen trade in services, whisky and cars, while India is pushing for access for goods, lawyers and accountancy, and work visas.

An insider told MailOnline the focus was on the ‘deal not the date’ and ministers will ‘only sign something that works for the UK’. 

Downing Street insisted Mr Sunak (pictured) will not rush a pact, after Liz Truss was criticised for forcing through an overly-generous deal with Australia

Source: Read Full Article