There are growing fears here that the proposed India-UK free trade agreement (FTA), currently in its final stages of negotiation towards a Diwali deadline, is likely to be watered down amid controversial remarks by UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman on visas.
The Indian-origin Cabinet minister seems to be poised for a direct clash with British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is keen to stick to the looming October 24 timeline for the FTA and is well aware that the ease of movement of students and professionals is crucial to India's objectives as part of a new trade deal.
However, Braverman expressed reservations over what she feared would be an open borders migration policy with India under an FTA, casting doubt over the nature of the final agreement.
It now appears likely that the prospective UK-India FTA under the Liz Truss government will not be as substantive nor as comprehensive as envisaged by the previous Boris Johnson government, as negotiations on key issues of ...
