‘India-UK FTA Finalised 10 Days Ago’: Vikram Doraiswami Tells News18 What Went On Behind The Scenes

Last Updated:July 25, 2025, 19:35 IST

From how India-UK FTA was finalised 10 days before Modi’s UK visit to how UK PM was to visit India for signing, Vikram Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to UK, shared details

(From left) Vikram Doraiswami; PM Modi with UK PM Starmer. (PTI/X)

What went into finalising the historic Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) or free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the United Kingdom (UK)? Why was Chequers, not London, picked as the venue?

From how the terms of the 30-chapter-long agreement were finalised 10 days before PM Narendra Modi’s UK visit to how UK PM Keir Starmer was to visit India in the third week of July for the signing, Vikram Doraiswami, High Commissioner of India to the UK, shared exclusive insights with CNN-News18’s Anand Narasimhan.

‘Starmer was to visit in third week of July’: How PM Modi’s UK visit happened

The India-UK CETA was signed on Thursday in the presence of PM Modi and UK PM Starmer. When asked if PM Modi’s visit was sudden, Doraiswami said, “It wasn’t sudden. We were working on the idea after the completion of the negotiations was announced by the two PMs on May 6 that the two PMs would meet and we would have the document signed during a bilateral summit."

“The plan was for PM Starmer to visit India in the third week of July. But when they met at the G7 in Canada, the British side indicated that for scheduling reasons, the mid-July date was a problem for them. This is the start of the UK summer holiday summer. Starmer could come a couple of months later. PM Modi said as everything was finalised, he could come even if it was for a short visit. Starmer thought it was a great idea," he elaborated.

30 chapters in the trade deal: What went on behind the scenes

“The PM visit itself involves a lot in terms of logistics, but there was also the deal this time. The negotiations had concluded but this is the largest deal we had done, both in complexity and depth. It is nearly 30 chapters. It meant the legal scrubbing for completion of the treaty had to be done in time," said Doraiswami.

“Around 10 days ago, every last thing was put to bed. The papers were scrubbed by lawyers from both sides. It was ready for the cabinet clearances by weekend. Both the PMs were confident. Our PM was very certain that this is something which is good for India, India-UK relationship and a major message to global relationships that India is a great place to do business," he said.

“We have been working with the Labour party way before the elections happened…The whole cabinet effectively went through what had already been closed and agreed to sustain it…A trade agreement is complex…there are gives and gets across the table," he said.

“We worked with the diaspora and said we will need to get this done in a secure manner…We said we will ensure that there was space available for people to check… It is really the most forward-looking FTA we have done…I haven’t seen so much complexity in any of our previous deals. We have changed the nature of how we are going to do business," he said.

Why did the historic deal happen away from London?

Brushing off any speculation, Doraiswami said, “Chequers is historic, it is the British PM’s historic residence. Taking you to the country home is the most special gesture any British PM can do…Our PM stayed the night at Chequers. This time the deal was done in Chequers just to show it is historic and special. This is first time that something like this is done in Chequers…This is the first time Indian businesses have been invited to Chequers. The whole place was filled with businesses from both the sides."

On extremist elements & fugitive offenders

Commenting on the extremist elements in the UK, Doraiswami said, “They do great discredit to peaceful and hardworking people and they are definitely not credit either to the country of their origin or the country they live in. Their narrative, the messaging they use is essentially hate speech. There are caste-based and religious slurs…how the UK wants to handle them is totally up to them."

When asked about fugitive offenders, he said, “Our position is very clear…we want best possible cooperation with our British friends on a range of issues including security. We understand legal process, but when it is exhausted, we expect they are brought back. It is for the UK to send them back."

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