Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer sparked significant speculation about progress on the India-UK trade agreement during their meeting at the G7 Summit in Evian-les-Bains, France. As reported by Business Standard, the leaders were caught on microphone exchanging remarks that suggested some form of agreement had been reached, with Modi saying 'We did it' and Starmer responding 'We did it. Yes, yes, yes, I hear. We got it over the line. So this is good.' Following the initial exchange, an Indian aide was heard asking 'how will we announce it today?' to which Starmer responded 'I think we put a statement out' before suggesting they could do something more. The conversation has fuelled expectations that India and the United Kingdom may be close to resolving outstanding issues related to their trade agreement, with the deal having been sealed last year but yet to be fully implemented. According to Bloomberg, a UK official familiar with the matter later confirmed that the steel dispute had been resolved.
The breakthrough appears to address a key obstacle that had emerged as a sticking point in trade negotiations. India had suggested it may reconsider certain concessions under the free trade agreement in response to the UK's recent steel safeguards, with the measures expected to significantly reduce tariff-free import quotas. As reported by Business Standard, these steel safeguard measures had become a key source of friction between the two sides as they worked towards implementing the agreement. The resolution of this dispute appears to have been a critical factor in the leaders' positive exchange about the trade deal's progress, with Bloomberg confirming that the steel row had been resolved. However, neither the British nor the Indian official readouts made any mention of the steel dispute in their formal statements from their formal bilateral meeting on Tuesday.
The leaders discussed comprehensive cooperation in innovation, artificial intelligence, skill development, and sports, as well as measures to boost investment linkages for mutual benefit. As reported by Business Standard, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal highlighted that India-UK ties continue to gain momentum across trade, technology, innovation, defence, clean energy and education. The leaders also looked forward to the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and expressed satisfaction with the growing education partnership. According to the MEA, they discussed ways to work closely in areas like innovation, AI, skill development, sports and more, with a focus on increasing investment linkages for the benefit of the people of both nations.
According to the MEA statement, the two leaders reviewed strong momentum in bilateral ties since their reciprocal visits last year and welcomed progress across all pillars of the India-UK Vision 2035 roadmap. The progress includes trade and economic growth, defence and security, climate action and green energy, technology and innovation, and education and people-to-people ties. The leaders also looked forward to the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and expressed satisfaction with the robust education partnership, noting the recent progress with the University of Liverpool to establish its campus in Bengaluru, and with the University of York and the University of Bristol for their campuses in Mumbai.
Despite the breakthrough conversation, neither the British nor the Indian official readouts referred to the steel safeguard dispute in their formal statements. As reported by Business Standard, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Starmer later held a formal bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, with the Indian government's readout stating 'The leaders looked forward to the early entry into force of the comprehensive economic and trade agreement.' Starmer's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the breakthrough conversation, while a UK official familiar with the matter later confirmed to Bloomberg that the steel dispute had been resolved. The leaders reaffirmed their shared commitment to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, demonstrating the growing importance of bilateral relations in the global context.
