Liz Truss is next UK PM: How does her arrival alter the dynamics of India-UK ties?

Liz Truss won the Tory leadership election and is set to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She is the UK’s 56th Prime Minister and the third female PM to lead the nation, after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.

India and the United Kingdom have a history of strong bilateral ties, and Truss taking over the highest British office could bring changes in the relationship dynamics between the two nations. This election has been a subject of interest in India as well, one of the reasons being Truss' contender Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian origin. 

'India is an economic and tech powerhouse'

The British PM-elect had visited India in March this year amid the Russia-Ukraine war. At that time, she was the Foreign Secretary of the UK. During this visit, she met several tall leaders, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and had stressed on how important it is to build strong ties between the two nations, more than ever before.

During this time, Truss was quoted saying, “Deeper ties between Britain and India will boost security in the Indo-Pacific and globally, and create jobs and opportunities in both countries. This matters even more in the context of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and underlines the need for free democracies to work closer together in areas like defence, trade and cybersecurity."

She added, “India is an economic and tech powerhouse, the world’s largest democracy and a great friend of Britain, and I want to build an even closer relationship between our two nations.”

‘India-U.K. ties vital in coming decades’

She had also visited India for three days in October 2021 after the departure of the U.S. and U.K. troops from Afghanistan, and had met EAM Jaishankar. She had hailed the friendship between the two countries and stated, "India is our great friend, an economic powerhouse and the world’s largest democracy. Our relationship will be vital over the coming decades," adding, "You are a fellow democracy, you believe in free enterprise and you believe in freedom. I think it's very important that countries like ours work together on our shared plans for the future."

'UK and India in a sweet spot of ties'

Notably, it was also Truss, as the International Trade Secretary, who had signed the India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) for the Boris Johnson government in May 2021, which marked the starting point of the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.

After signing the ETP, she had said, "I see the UK and India in a sweet spot of the trade dynamics that are building up. We are looking at a comprehensive trade agreement that covers everything, from financial services to legal services to digital and data, as well as goods and agriculture. We think there is strong possibility for us to get an early agreement, where we lower tariffs on both sides and start to see more goods flowing between our two countries."

Even recently during the election campaign, Truss had asserted that she remains committed to strengthen the bilateral ties at an event of the party's Conservative Friends of India (CFIN) diaspora group.