Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charms seem to have rubbed off on the British government. In an exclusive conversation with CNBC-TV18's Menaka Doshi, UK's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that the Indian infra and defence sectors are ripe for investment .
"The opportunities are huge. If you bear in mind that the relationship is already very strong, sometimes we overlook how strong it is. After all Britain is the largest investor in India from all the G20 countries and in fact by some measures by quite some distance, but also conversely Indian investment in Britain is greater than all investment put in by the rest of the European Union put together," he added.
He further added that Modi's central purpose and ambition is to unlock the dynamism of the Indian economic, which was hit by slow decision making, regulatory and administrative obstacles. "This presents a massive opportunity for British investments and further two-way traffic in the commercial relationship between our two nations," he said.
Below is the edited transcript of Nick Clegg's interview with Menaka Doshi on CNBC-TV18.
Q: Let me ask you about the infrastructure and the defense opportunity. Are British businessmen telling you in terms of numbers what Britain' involvement in India's infrastructure growth could be like or similarly for defense, now that the foreign investment limit has been raised what kind of British investment we might see come into India on the back of that?
A: Yes, they tell me there is a wall of money waiting to find a home to be invested in India. if some of the blockages and delays that have stopped projects from proceeding in the past could be removed. There are a number of stranded projects which started and then stopped. Just to complete those, that itself will unlock billions of pounds of additional investment, much of it from United Kingdom in India but also vise versa.
I met a number of Indian investors who run world-beating pharmaceutical companies or engineering companies, who make massive investments in the United Kingdom. For example the Tata Group is now one of the principal employers in the manufacturing sector in Britain. We are very grateful for the investment. So, it is a two-way street.
It's terribly important that we don't simply seek to try and extract advantage from one country or another. It is about partnership which benefits both United Kingdom and India.
Q: What was your assessment of India's position on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement and the negative position that we took on that?
A: I regret that, because the trade facilitation agreement is one that will bring considerable benefit to the people of India but many-many people, other people around the world particularly in low income countries. Having said that, I listened very carefully to the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Jaitley explained to me and he is clear that the objections of the Indian government are not to Trade Facilitation aspect of the Bali Agreement as such, but about the legitimate issues surrounding food security and food subsidies for many of the subsistence farmers in India.
My view is we can find a solution to that. When I will return to London, I'll be redoubling my efforts to ensure that we craft a solution to that because we must find a solution and because it would be an unwelcome irony if in seeking to understandably defend the interest of some of the poorest farmers in India, we were to deprive many poor communities elsewhere in the world.
I think we can find a solution to India's concern and for me it is important and we talked about this that we maintain political confidence in the World Trade System. I very much hope that we will be able to come together deal with the issue of food security in India and endorse and ratify and apply the trade facilitation agreement.
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