Speaking to ANI, Blackman said the agreement was a positive development despite its limitations. “It’s good that we’ve got a trade agreement with our friends in India. It took about 15 rounds of talks to get to this stage. And of course, the current government just signed off where we had got to in government. They didn’t make any changes to it,” he said.
The Conservative MP noted that both sides had acknowledged there was still work to be done to further improve the agreement. “There was still on both sides acceptance there was still work to do to get a fair and equal balance and indeed looking to the future to reduce tariffs and hopefully eliminate them eventually so that we’d have friction-free trade,” Blackman said.
Highlighting the UK’s post-Brexit trade flexibility, he added, “One of the big advantages of being outside the European Union is that the United Kingdom can make these treaties and make these arrangements for trade. We would not have been allowed to do so as part of the European Union.”
Blackman, however, expressed concern over possible future trade arrangements between the UK and the European Union (EU), arguing that they could dilute the advantages of agreements reached with countries such as India. “What that may do is countermand all the advantages we’re going to get from trading with India, one of the largest democratic countries in the world and indeed, you know, a rapidly expanding economy. This would be a complete retrograde step if they do it,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of expanding Britain’s global trade network, Blackman pointed to agreements with India, Canada, the United States and the UK’s membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. “The key thing is that what we’ve got to do as a country is build on that and not go backwards,” he said.
Reiterating his support for the India-UK trade pact, Blackman added a note of caution over future negotiations with Brussels. “It’s great we’ve got a trade deal with India, that will be introduced. But then suddenly that will be seen to be incompatible with the trade deal that they’re trying to negotiate with the European Union and we don’t know what will happen as a result,” he said. The landmark India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will come into force from July 15, 2026, with the government working to ensure that customs notifications and related processes are put in place so that exporters can start availing concessions from day one, senior government sources told ANI.
“Government is working towards getting customs notifications and processes in place. The effort will be to see that exporters are able to sell their consignments on July 15 itself, availing concessions,” sources said.
Describing the pact as a landmark achievement, government sources said, “India-UK CETA is the most aspirational agreement so far,” adding that it opens up a market worth over USD 500 billion for Indian businesses.
“India will have decent market access. More than USD 500 billion worth of market opens up for India. India-UK CETA opens up large economic opportunities on both sides,” sources said.
The agreement is expected to provide an additional tariff advantage of 7-10 per cent to Indian exporters, bringing India at par with several other countries that already enjoy zero-duty access to the UK market. Sources said over 99 per cent of India’s tariff lines and 99 per cent of India’s trade would come down to zero duty under the pact.
India currently enjoys a trade surplus with the UK in both merchandise and services. India’s services exports to the UK stood at USD 21.6 billion in 2024, while UK services exports to India were valued at USD 13.7 billion. Merchandise exports from India to the UK stood at USD 13.7 billion in 2025, compared with imports of USD 9.47 billion.