Raab says UK has been too ‘myopically focused on Europe’ during India visit

Foreign Secretary confirms Boris Johnson has accepted invitation to visit India in January, becoming only second British leader to appear as guest of honour at India’s Republic Day since independence

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar attend a press interaction following their ‘India-UK Ministerial Dialogue’ meeting in New Delhi on December 15, 2020 (AFP via Getty Images)

With just over two weeks to go until the end of the Brexit transition period, Dominic Raab has said during a four-day visit to India that the UK has been “myopically focused” on Europe for trade deals in the past.

Speaking at a press conference after talks in Delhi with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Mr Raab said the country would have a wider focus in striking trade deals with the rest of the world and “the Indo-Pacific region” after leaving the EU, adding “that’s where the growth opportunities of the future will be”.

“I think we have been too myopically focused just on Europe," he said. "But one of the advantages of leaving the transition period is we gain control over our ability to strike trade deals with India and rest of the word.”

Mr Raab also confirmed that prime minister Boris Johnson has accepted India’s offer to visit India in January as the guest of honour at the Republic Day celebrations on 26 January.

Neither Mr Raab nor Mr Jaishankar would be drawn on the prospect of a trade deal being signed between India and the UK in the near future, but both said they would be pushing their respective trade ministers to make progress on that front.

The British foreign secretary stressed that a closer relationship with India and engagement in the wider Indo-Pacific region was among “the highest policy priorities for the UK government".

Mr Raab called India’s decision to invite Mr Johnson to attend Republic Day next month “a great honour”. It will make him only the second British prime minister invited to the event since India’s independence, after John Major in 1993. 

"I am absolutely delighted to be visiting India next year at the start of an exciting year for Global Britain, and look forward to delivering the quantum leap in our bilateral relationship that Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and I have pledged to achieve," Mr Johnson said in a statement.

The British prime minister also invited Mr Modi to join the UK-hosted G7 Summit next year, said Mr Raab, adding that India would be one of three guest countries.  

India and the UK are revisiting ties after a year of pandemic-halted international travel, with Mr Raab becoming the first foreign minister to attend bilateral talks in India since March, and as the UK's Brexit transition period ends in just over two weeks, when Britain will stop following EU trading rules.

Mr Raab and Mr Jaishankar said the two countries agreed on the key elements of a 10-year “roadmap” for relations on a range of sectors like trade, defence, education and health.

"The focus has been on how to take our ties to a higher level. We focused on five broad themes – connecting people, trade and prosperity, defence and security, climate change and health," Mr Jaishankar said.

The Indian minister also highlighted the potential for trade opportunities in a post-Brexit world, saying it "the right time to put our heads together”.

At the same time, India’s protectionist stance on manufacturing saw it drop out of the recently-signed RCEP free trade agreement of Asia-Pacific nations. When asked why talks with the UK would fare any better, Mr Jaishankar dodged the question, saying it was “comparing apples and oranges”.  

During his four-day visit to India, Britain’s foreign secretary will also meet the environment minister Prakash Javadekar and the education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal.

He will also travel to the tech hub city of Bengaluru, formerly Bangalore, on Thursday to meet Karnataka’s chief minister BS Yediyurappa, before concluding his visit.