Some members of the Diaspora even loudly raised slogans congratulating him for the recent Operation Sindoor in the fight against Pakistan-supported terrorists. India and the UK have been negotiating the FTA from the time that Boris Johnson was Prime Minister and had hoped to sign the agreement more than two years ago. During the last couple of years, both sides negotiated on hard terms. India seems to have received major tariff reductions while agreeing to bring down the average tariff on UK goods from 15% to 3%. At the signing ceremony, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer made exceptional comments on the bilateral relationship and the most significant FTA signed by UK since leaving the European Union.

Indian Prime Minister Modi said the CETA marks a historic turn in relations between the two countries.

Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that FTA now labelled the India UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) marks a new era for inclusive and gender-equitable growth. He said duty-free access for about 99% of Indian exports unlocks nearly $ 23 billion in opportunities for labour intensive sectors. Besides, it sets the stage for opening doors to UK customers, investors, and innovation hubs for Indian start-ups helping them expand their global footprint. Meanwhile, for India, 99% of India`s marine exports (e.g., shrimp, fish meal, feed) will get zero duty access, tariffs on Indian leather & footwear will be reduced from 16% to zero, textile duties cut from 12% to zero, and preferential access granted for Indian footwear, textiles & leather over Bangladesh, Pakistan & Cambodia. Also, engineering goods will have duties cut from 18% to zero and generic medicines from India to benefit from zero-duty access in the UK. ">