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Originally Posted by Sephiroth
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If you Google the headline, you should be able to access the article.
India has been BoJo's great hope for a trade deal. If anyone knows the country, they'll appreciate that it is hard enough to trade across states there let alone externally, although it's improving.
When he got wind of the upcoming Indian-EU collaboration, BoJo was keen to take the wind out of the EU's sails by making an in-person trip to India and announcing a tick-box exercise eg looking at making it easier for skilled Indians to work in the UK, India to study an impact assessment on reducing tariffs on spirits.
BoJo is a gifted politician. He is only too aware that May's anticipated announcement by the EU will encourage commentators to pose the question about the UK's ties to India and future trade opportunities. And the questions will go beyond India to other Commonwealth countries where the feted opportunities have failed to materialise.
All of this made travelling to India in the midst of a pandemic look more of a rational decision.