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    UK and India have struck trade deal, Modi says
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    UK and India have struck trade deal, Modi says

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    30 Comments

    1. ziplock9000 on

      This, soon Canada and the rumours of a good one with the EU will be fantastic

    2. TheChattyRat on

      Devils in the details. Could be a big boost could be a rounding error. I reserve the right to be impressed.

    3. sisali on

      We need to see the deal really before any comments, I do hope they have done a good job.

    4. Logical-Brief-420 on

      I hope to be impressed, but prepare to be disappointed.

      As is the UK way.

    5. GuyLookingForPorn on

      >The deal does not include any change in immigration policy, including towards Indian students studying in the UK, the British government said.

    6. xParesh on

      This is great news. India is the 4th biggest economy in the world and might start rivaling China some day

    7. Mountain_Ad_8525 on

      Starmer caved on India’s demands for them to not pay National Insurance according to Modi’s latest tweet.

      Indian workers being transferred by their employer to work in the UK will not have to pay National Insurance.

      After thresholds, this makes it around 20% cheaper for an Indian firm to hire an Indian than it does to hire a Brit.

    8. JimmyKorr on

      We get British pounds sent to India , you get unlimited discount labor. – Modi.

    9. SKAOG on

      Alt link from Reuters: [https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-uk-conclude-talks-over-free-trade-pact-pm-modi-says-2025-05-06/](https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-uk-conclude-talks-over-free-trade-pact-pm-modi-says-2025-05-06/)

      An archived version can be found [here](https://archive.is/?run=1&url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-uk-conclude-talks-over-free-trade-pact-pm-modi-says-2025-05-06/) or [here](https://archive.ph/?run=1&url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-uk-conclude-talks-over-free-trade-pact-pm-modi-says-2025-05-06/) to bypass the paywall.

    10. ManuPasta on

      EU have been trying to negotiate with India since 2007 – glad we could wrap this up

    11. GreatBritishHedgehog on

      Indian firms sending staff to the UK pay no National Insurance on those assignees.

      Once thresholds apply, hiring an Indian is about 20% cheaper than hiring a Brit: Brits pay 8% employee NI and firms pay 15% employer NI

    13. berfunckle_777 on

      If you work in an industry with a high proportion of Indian workers (e.g., I.T.) then this is very, very bad for you

    14. Timoth_Hutchinson on

      Finally all that work the Jeremy, James and Richard did has paid off.

    17. selfstartr on

      So…India can sell to us easier…but what do we get in return? India ain’t a rich country.

      They’re hardly going to be paying top dollar for our service offerings.

      They can’t afford our stuff.

    18. Univeralise on

      Devil is the detail; let’s see how it plays out. The NI exemption is concerning but if it’s only for up to 6 months it might not be as consequential as others are stating.

      Remeber there is also visa costs to circulate workers and anyone who’s worked on projects can be aware of how long they take sometimes.

    19. OkMap3209 on

      I hope they made it easier for indian immigrants to change employers in this case. Indentured roles has given a significant downward pressure on pay. And the cost to employers should not be lower for using foreign labour. If the NI scrap is employees only, that would be a good thing for leverage. But scrapping employers NI would be more harmful than good.

    20. Emotional_Butterf1y on

      Great – even more reason for UK business to off shore IT jobs. No tax or NI.

    21. AdaptableBeef on

      >”As part of the agreement, the UK and India will strike a double contribution convention under which Indian workers temporarily living in the UK will not have to pay national insurance contributions for three years.”

      Great; so at a time when Labour increases the NI burden on British employers they remove on foreign workers who will probably remit most of their wages abroad rather than spend it locally.

      Starmer’s outdone himself with this one.

    22. Wgh555 on

      Dropping tariffs on our cars from 100% to 10% that is a massive win. Might actually save Jaguar Land Rover lol

    23. disordered-attic-2 on

      Ok so we’ve given away our high paid IT professional base, for more whiskey sales. Nice.

    24. KeyLog256 on

      It does disappoint me a bit we don’t hear much about the UK’s trade deals with other countries post-Brexit. It’s almost like the media *want* to make us think it’s all doom and gloom.

      We now have free trade deals with –

      Albania

      The “Andean Countries” (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)

      Australia

      Cameroon

      Canada

      “CARIFORUM” (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago)

      Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama)

      Chile

      “Eastern & Southern Africa” (Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe)

      Egypt

      The EU (27 members, independently – Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden)

      Faroe Islands

      Georgia

      Ghana

      Iceland

      Lichtenstein

      Norway

      Israel

      Ivory Coast

      Japan

      Jordan

      Kenya

      Kosovo

      Lebanon

      Switzerland

      Mexico

      Moldova

      Morocco

      New Zealand

      North Macedonia

      “Pacific States” (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands)

      Palestine

      Serbia

      Singapore

      South Korea

      “Southern Africa Customs Union and Mozambique” (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa)

      Tunisia

      Turkey

      Ukraine

      Vietnam

      We’re also in the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” which includes some of the above.

      We’re negotiating agreements at present with –

      Algeria

      Bosnia

      Canada (a wider deal than the one we already have)

      Greenland

      “Gulf Cooperation Council” (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE)

      India (Agreed in principle, as per the thread topic)

      Israel

      Maldives

      Montenegro

      Switzerland (independent of the one alongside Lichtenstein as above)

      Thailand

      Turkey

      The United States

      I’d say we’re doing pretty bloody well!

    25. Kixsian on

      For people who are “concerned” about the immigration part of this deal let me explain please:

      The article states that indians who work for indian companies that come over here to work for those same companies will be NI exempt for 3 years.

      Lets break this down this means that they already have a job with the indian company, they will be on an ICT which is Inter-Company Transfer Visa that is good for 3 years. As part of this visa process an NHS Surcharge will be paid which means they will be paying for the use of the NHS upfront. Secondly there is no path to ILR or Citizenship with an ICT, they would have to then switch to a critical skills work visa, in which case the salary restrictions are higher, and they would be paying NI on top of NHS Surcharge.

      I hope this helps, this is not a “free door” for a bunch more people to just come over. These are company transfers on a temporary basis, and the exemption is so they do not pay into a pot for state pension that they will enver qualify for while also paying into their state pension pot in india.

    26. PitmaticSocialist on

      I think we aren’t seeing the main thing here that is the reason why this deal is good and I’d think should be supported irregardless of ideology. The US is in a trade war with China which just happens to be where we import a large bulk of our affordable goods from and the cost of energy is skyrocketing. In India the cost of energy is way lower and they produce pretty much the same things as China for the same price, so lets not lean so heavily on China for certain things if we can get them from our old Commonwealth buddies especially in a time when the world is getting more uncertain it wouldn’t kill economically or politically to maintain a good relationship with these key strategic allies (remember lots of our raw resources and key strategic resources also come from India so its vital we utilise this strategic partner).

    27. Lower_Performer_3365 on

      Wtf

      ‘As part of the UK-India trade deal, Indian workers coming to Britain and British workers going to India will not have to pay NI contributions in both countries for the first three years.’

    28. -wanderlusting- on

      India needs to get its population to resources ratio sorted out. It doesn’t invest enough in its own people, neither does UK so maybe that would be a place for both countries to start. Not leeching off other places like there’s no shame in it.

    29. gamesbrainiac on

      The Devil’s in the details. TCS and Infosys can shuffle employees over and over again to keep their costs down and their employees trapped. The IT market is likely going to suffer. 97% of all ICT-Contractor visas went to Indian nationals in 2019. This will definitely drive down wages in IT.

    30. Savings-Seat6211 on

      Lol the highlights of this trade deal are going to create a backlash like never seen before. I expect even nonwhite British Nationals to be pissed.

      Not that I oppose it since I support free trade, but this trade deal is electoral suicide. Reform is going to sweep.