A quiet rehaul of India-UK relations

The relationship, long tainted by mistrust, is on the mend. The UK is now increasingly, and meaningfully, sensitive to India’s strategic concerns and New Delhi recognises that it needs London

- Avinash Paliwal

“Beyond the words on the page of the agreement is the spirit and the confidence that has given to our two great countries to work even more closely together,” noted Keir Starmer, the British Prime Minister, during his recent visit to Mumbai. He was referring to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) the two countries signed. The agreement promises to augment bilateral trade volume by £255 billion every year from its current standing at £44.1 billion. The UK-India Technology Security Initiative adds collaborative substance in the critical minerals and Artificial Intelligence space. But the spirit of this story, as Starmer hinted, is fundamentally political.

India’s ties with Britain are undergoing a silent revolution. The timing is notable. A relationship long tainted by mistrust, despite known historical depth and interactive breadth, is on the mend in an age of collapsing order. From resenting London's relations with Pakistan, to rubbishing post-Brexit Britain as strategically inconsequential, India took measures big and small to communicate its anger to Whitehall. In return, London kept its guard up with what it viewed as a Russia-friendly power that excels in protectionism, is prickly in diplomacy, and overconfident in its posturing. No more.