Britain and India have been trading for over 400 years. For 190 of those, between 1757 and 1947, the subcontinent was close to being a captive market of the United Kingdom. Today commercial turnover between the two nations is a mere £23 billion — a tenth of the goods and services traffic between Britain and the European Union.
For many Leave voters, Boris Johnson included, expanding trade ties beyond the EU’s borders was a major motivation for Brexit. India was seen as both an exciting emerging market but also a nation that is culturally entwined with this one. However, five years after Britain voted to depart the lucrative single market, all Johnson and Narendra Modi have been able to conjure up is a below-expectation ‘enhanced trade partnership’. Downing Street was surely exaggerating when it called yesterday’s deal a ‘historic commitment’ by the two leaders.
Modi’s attempts at international politics appear increasingly ill-timed to those watching back home
Modi too has been engaged in a game of spin.
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