Rishi Sunak , who is currently in India for a G20 summit, mentioned that he will take his time before finalizing a trade agreement between the UK and India.
The UK prime minister said the negotiations, which started in early last year, would not have a set end date.
People are increasingly hopeful that an agreement could be reached before the year ends.
Mr Sunak said to reporters that we have made some progress, but we haven’t reached our goal yet.
India and the UK have not yet made a trade agreement since the UK left the European Union’s trading system in 2021. If they do, India would be the largest country to do so.
Mr Sunak is going to India to attend a meeting with leaders from the biggest economies in the world called the G20.
There is no plan for a UK-India agreement, but Mr. Sunak is expected to talk about what has happened until now with his Indian partner Narendra Modi during the summit this weekend.
He received a warm welcome when he arrived in Delhi on Friday. People greeted him with traditional dancers and music as he got off his plane.
Later on, he met some kids from a nearby school along with his wife Akshata Murty. She is the daughter of a very rich person who helped start a big technology company in India called Infosys.
Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty.
Caption for a picture.
Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty had a meeting with children from a nearby school at the British Council.
The two countries started talking about trading with each other in January last year. They have had twelve meetings about it so far, and the next one will happen later this month.
The UK wants India to reduce the high import taxes it imposes on British cars, dairy products, and drinks like Scotch whisky.
The UK wants India to let more UK financial and professional services companies work in India.
However,Sunak is being urged not to make it easier for Indian people to obtain visas in the UK. Reports suggest that the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, is worried that this could make it harder to reduce overall immigration numbers.
Difficulty obtaining visa
Before the summit, the UK government stated that they would not give more student visas in order to make an agreement. The Prime Minister’s spokesperson also said that they do not intend to change their rules for immigration.
India’s ambassador to the UK has made it clear that India is not seeking additional visas. However, he did express a desire for Indian students studying in the UK to be allowed to gain practical work experience once they complete their studies.
Vikram Doraiswami said that Indian students are paying a lot of money to study in UK universities and they want the same rights as students from other countries.
He said India also wants to make it simpler for companies from both countries to temporarily move their workers, and for Indians working in the UK for short periods to be able to bring back their pension contributions to India.
“He said that we do not want migrants to be able to come here. They have been talking about this in your press, not in ours. ”
The Diwali deadline was not met.
The previous Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, wanted to make a deal with India before October last year, in time for Diwali. However, he lost his position as Prime Minister in July and the deadline passed without a deal being made.
There are reports that Mr Modi wants to make a smaller deal to lower import taxes and make it easier for service companies to do business, before the election next year.
Mr Sunak recently talked to reporters and said that he has made sure to prioritize international negotiations that benefit the people of Britain since he became a part of the government.
“He said he won’t hurry things just for the sake of it, but will wait until they are right for us. ”
Tag: G20 summit
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I won’t rush India-UK trade agreement – Sunak
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G20: Xi accuses Trudeau of leaks to media about China-Canada relations
China’s Xi Jinping has been filmed accusing Justin Trudeau of leaking meeting details, days after they held talks at the G20 summit in Bali.
President Xi told the Canadian PM, via a translator, this was inappropriate and accused him of lacking “sincerity”.
He was likely referring to reports that Mr Trudeau discussed alleged Chinese espionage and interference in Canadian elections at the sit down.
The talks, which happened behind closed doors, were the pair’s first in years.
In the footage, filmed by journalists at the now finished gathering of world leaders, President Xi and Mr Trudeau can be seen standing close to each other and conversing via a translator.
“Everything we discussed has been leaked to the papers and that is not appropriate,” the Chinese leader told Mr Trudeau in Mandarin.
It captures a rare candid moment of President Xi, whose image is normally carefully curated by Chinese state media.
After smiling and nodding his head, the Canadian PM responded by saying “in Canada we believe in free and open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have”.
“We will continue to look to work constructively together but there will be things we disagree on,” he added.
Before Mr Trudeau could finish, President Xi cut his counterpart off and asked that he first “create the conditions” – eventually shaking Trudeau’s hand and walking away.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson played down the incident, describing it as a normal exchange that should not be interpreted as criticising or blaming anyone.
The spokesperson, Mao Ning, added that Beijing supported having frank exchanges as long as they were held on an equal basis.
The short but revealing exchange highlighted tensions between China and Canada, running high since the detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing’s subsequent arrest of two Canadians on spying charges. All three were later released.
But tensions recently resurged following the arrest of Yuesheng Wang, a public utility worker at Hydro-Quebec, who was charged with espionage.
Mr Wang “obtained trade secrets to benefit the People’s Republic of China, to the detriment of Canada’s economic interests,” Canadian police said in a statement.
At the time, Mr Trudeau and President Xi were at the G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Source: BBC.com
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Sunak delivering statement on G20
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is giving a statement on the G20 summit he attended in Indonesia.
He starts by addressing the missile strikes in Ukraine carried out by Russia as the summit took place.
He says that “no blame” can be placed on Ukraine if the missile which landed in Poland and killed two people was fired by them in self-defence – the PM says blame lies solely with the Russians for launching the attack.
Mr Sunak says the Bali summit “took place amidst the worst global economic crisis since 2008”.
He notes, however, that this time the headwinds were caused by a G20 member – Russia – “turning off the gas taps and choking off the Ukrainian grain supply”.
The prime minister then runs through what he did at the G20 summit, talking about leaders he met and pledges he made.
He said the UK “committed to maintain free markets, free trade, and to reform World Trade Organisation”.
And he added, on his meetings with other world leaders: “In each of these discussions, there was a shared determination to restore stability, deliver long-term growth and drive a better future – one where no single country has the power to hold us back.
“In just a few moments, my right honourable friend, the chancellor, will build on these international foundations when he sets out the autumn statement, putting our economy back onto a positive trajectory and restoring our fiscal sustainability.”
Source: Skynews.com
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‘China poses a systemic challenge’ to UK, Sunak says
Rishi Sunak has said he is “hopeful” he will be able to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Bali as he described how the county posed a “systemic challenge” to the UK.
Speaking to Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby, the prime minister said it was important to “engage” with the Chinese leader to try and tackle “shared challenges”.
He said: “I’m very clear that China poses a systemic challenge to both our values and our interests, and it represents the single biggest threat to our economic security.
“And that’s why it’s right that we take the steps that are necessary to protect ourselves against a threat or a challenge.”
Asked if he would be able to have a collaborative relationship with President Xi, he added: “I think our approach to China is one that is very similar to our allies, whether it’s America or Australia and Canada.
“I think it’s an indisputable fact of the global economy that China is a big part of it.
“And if we want to solve big global challenges like public health, like Russia and Ukraine, fixing the global economy or indeed climate change, it’s important to have a dialogue and to engage with China.”
Source: BBC.com
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Ukraine put forward ‘unrealistic’ conditions for peace, Lavrov says
Ukraine has put forward “unrealistic” conditions for peace, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov has said.
Speaking to reporters in Bali, Indonesia, Mr Lavrov said he had been in talks with the leaders of France and Germany on the conflict in Ukraine before going on to accuse Kyiv of dragging out any possible resolution.
He claimed Ukraine was refusing to talk to Moscow and had put forward unrealistic conditions for peace.
The Kremlin official also said that the UN had promised to move obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertilisers.
Russia has long complained of barriers to its farm exports, even though they are not directly targeted by Western sanctions.
In spite of the problems, Mr Lavrov said Russia had already exported 10.5 million tonnes of grain, mainly wheat, of which 60% had gone to Asia and 40% to Africa.
“I hope these promises will be fulfilled. At least the UN secretary general gave me his sworn assurance that this is a priority issue for him,” he added.
Yesterday, the Indonesian authorities said Mr Lavrov had been taken to hospital after his arrival in Bali for the G20 summit.
Wayan Koster, the governor of Bali, said he had been taken in for a “check-up” at the Sanglah Hospital in the provincial capital, Denpasar, and was “immediately returned”.
Three other Indonesian government and medical officials also said he was being treated on the resort island.
However, the Russian foreign ministry dismissed claims that he had been in hospital as “fake news”.
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Russia must ‘get out of Ukraine and end barbaric war’ – Rishi Sunak confronts Putin’s officials at G20
The prime minister intends to use the summit to press the world’s most powerful economies to do more to reduce their reliance on Russian exports, while also encouraging others to do the same.
As he confronted Vladimir Putin’s officials at the G20 summit, Rishi Sunak said Russia must “get out of Ukraine and end this barbaric war.”
The prime minister made the remarks during the first session on Tuesday, criticising the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the talks on the Indonesian island of Bali.
“It is notable that Putin didn’t feel able to join us here,” he said. “Maybe if he had, we could get on with sorting things out.
“Because the single biggest difference that anyone could make is for Russia to get out of Ukraine and end this barbaric war.
“The UK rejects this aggression. We will back Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Mr Sunak also rebuked Russia by saying “countries should not invade their neighbours”.
“It is very simple – countries should not invade their neighbours, they should not attack civilian infrastructure and civilian populations and they should not threaten nuclear escalation,” he said.
“Surely these are things on which we can all agree.”
The prime minister sat down with leaders of the world’s 19 biggest economies in Bali – the first meeting in the group’s 15-year history to be held in the shadow of a major European war instigated by one of its members.
Image:Justin Trudeau, the Canadian leader, and Mr Sunak met at a Bali cafe on Monday ‘Chorus of opposition to Putin’
Mr Sunak will use the summit to push the world’s most powerful economies to do more to reduce their dependence on Russian exports, while supporting others to do the same.
He will also reiterate the UK’s financial support for Ukraine, saying he committed £4.1bn in aid when he was chancellor.
This included £2.3bn in military aid, while Mr Sunak will promise to match this level of spending next year.
Before the meeting, he said: “Putin and his proxies will never have a legitimate seat at the table until they end their illegal war in Ukraine.”
He continued: “At the G20, the Putin regime – which has stifled domestic dissent and fabricated a veneer of validity only through violence – will hear the chorus of global opposition to its actions.”
Russia invaded Ukraine almost nine months ago, leaving the rest of the world struggling to deal with the fallout, which has included rising food and energy prices.
Many countries have stood firm, supporting Ukraine with weapons and aid, while imposing various sanctions on Russia.
Mr Putin sent Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, to the talks in his place.
He was taken to hospital on his arrival at the talks with a heart condition, the Indonesian authorities said – though the Russian foreign ministry dismissed the claims as “fake news”.
Last week, the UK introduced legislation to stop countries using its maritime services to transport Russian oil unless it is purchased below a price cap – which Number 10 described as a “hugely influential measure, given the UK provides around 60% of global maritime insurance”.