The pair embraced as Mr Sunak said: “It is so nice to be here.” Mr Modi noted that his counterpart, the first British prime minister of Indian descent, had received a “warm welcome” in India.
The Prime Minister said that he cited Britain’s ability to control its own trade policy when he was asked for his reasons for supporting Brexit, during the 2016 campaign to leave the EU.
He said: “I think it is an advantage because it’s countries like India and the East more generally, the Asia Pacific, which is going to disproportionately account for global growth in the coming decades.
“So being able to attach ourselves to that is really important … It’s not a given with this deal, there’s hard work to do. But if it was successful, then that would be another way that we would be attaching ourselves to the growth of the fastest-growing region in the world.”
Mr Sunak added of India: “It’s, I think, almost inevitable that India is going to be one of the most significant countries geopolitically in the coming years and decades.
“To get a sense of that … I was meeting with a bunch of schoolchildren who were doing programmes at the British Council. That’s India’s future – just chatting with those kids and just seeing their confidence, their hunger and quite frankly their aptitude.
“This is the thing about India, it has one of the youngest populations, and also one of the largest populations, and that is going to power its growth for years to come.
“Now, that’s an exciting opportunity for the UK. That’s why it’s important that we deepen our ties, particularly our economic ties, with India. It’s a great thing for the world that India is going to grow like that. But that’s also good for the UK because we can hopefully be a part of that, we can hopefully support India’s growth and development, but also benefit from it and that’s why the trade deal will help us do it.
“That’s, candidly, one of the benefits of Brexit.”
