‘Intensive negotiations’ under way with India but no Deepavali deal, says U.K.

Two countries are still on track for a good deal, says British foreign affairs spokesperson

India and the U.K. are engaged in  “intensive negotiations” to conclude a trade deal, a foreign affairs spokesperson for the British government said on Wednesday.

An India-U.K. trade deal is not expected by Deepavali on Monday — a deadline that the sides were working towards.

“We are currently not expecting to have a final deal by the end of Diwali, which the International Trade Secretary [Kemi Badenoch] set out herself last week,” the spokesperson said at a briefing for the foreign press on Wednesday.

Comments two weeks ago by British Home Secretary Suella Braverman that she had “some reservations” about the trade deal as Indians were the largest group of visa overstayers in the U.K. (mobility of professionals is usually a core topic for India across trade deals) had not gone down well with India.

The British side of the talks is being led by Ms. Badenoch and her team at the Department for International Trade ( DIT ). However, British Prime Minister Liz Truss “undermined the negotiations by regularly messaging” Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, an October 14 report in The Times said, claiming that this hurry to get the deal done by Deepavali had given the Indian side an advantage.

Nevertheless, the British government said on Wednesday that the countries were still on track for a good deal.

“But we still fully expect to get a good and comprehensive free trade deal with India that fully benefits both sides,” the spokesperson said on Wednesday.