G20: Rishi Sunak meets Narendra Modi for trade talks – and is ‘confident’ of securing deal
Rishi Sunak says he is confident a trade deal will be struck between the UK and India after meeting with Narendra Modi at the G20 summit.
While Mr Sunak had been positive about the progress of negotiations in advance of the meeting in New Delhi with India’s prime minister, he warned a deal was “not a given”.
Speaking after talks with Mr Modi, he said there was “hard work” still to be done on the trade deal, but he was “confident there is a deal there to be done”.
“Trade deals of this size and ambition are never easy”, he said, adding he would never put an “arbitrary deadline” on the agreement.
The meeting came as G20 leaders reached a consensus on a declaration which calls for “durable peace in Ukraine”.
The wording around the war in Ukraine had proved contentious in the run-up to the weekend, threatening to leave the summit without a leaders’ declaration for the first time in its 20-year history.
But in a statement they said: “We call on all states to uphold the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability.
“We…welcome all relevant and constructive initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine.”
The declaration added: “The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible.”
Mr Sunak said the communique used “very strong language” about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war’s impact on food prices and the need for a revival of the Black Sea grain deal, but Kyiv has criticised the declaration, saying it is “nothing to be proud of”.
The prime minister is visiting Delhi for the first time as prime minister to attend the G20 summit.
A second visit is being discussed for later this year, with hopes a trade deal may be reached then.
Mr Sunak said while a trade agreement is an important way to strengthen ties between the two countries, the leaders had also discussed other ways deepen their relationship, including security and defence, education and research.
Boris Johnson and Liz Truss set a deadline for a trade deal by Diwali in October last year, but Mr Sunak has rejected this timescale, pushing for a deeper deal over one achieved quickly.
He has previously told cabinet colleagues he does not want a simple deal on goods, but a comprehensive deal which tackles issues around services.
The deal is reportedly being held up by a number of issues, including a disagreement over the number of visas for Indians to work in the UK and differences over the level of access British car manufacturers should be given to India’s market of 1.4 billion people.
Mr Sunak would not be drawn on what he called the “nitty-gritty” of the negotiations.
Elsewhere at the summit, leaders granted permanent membership to the African Union in an effort to make the G20 more representative.
The G20 agenda featured issues critical to developing nations, including alternative fuels like hydrogen, resource efficiency, food security and developing a common framework for digital public infrastructure.
The summit is expected to be dominated by the West and its allies, with the Ukraine war looming large. Chinese President Xi Jinping is skipping the meeting and has sent premier Li Qiang instead, while Vladimir Putin has sent foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in his place.