Trade, Geopolitics, and Growth: Decoding the UK–India Deal | Pratik Dattani
This week on Brown Business, the conversation moves beyond headlines to examine a critical question: Is the UK–India trade agreement truly transformative, or is its significance more geopolitical than economic?
Host Rajan Nazran is joined by Pratik Dattani, Managing Director of EPG, to unpack the real implications of the agreement between the United Kingdom and India, exploring its economic projections, political context, and long-term strategic impact.
The discussion begins by examining how Brexit created the structural conditions that enabled the UK to pursue a bilateral agreement outside the European Union’s negotiating framework. While the deal is often framed as a major economic milestone, the projected GDP gains remain modest relative to the scale of the UK economy. Instead, the agreement carries significant signalling value, demonstrating that major trade negotiations can still be concluded in an increasingly fragmented global order.
Nazran and Dattani explore the sectoral implications, noting that industries such as automotive manufacturing and spirits may benefit as tariffs are gradually reduced, while increased competition could affect other sectors, including textiles. A key theme of the episode is what the agreement does not yet include. Given that the UK’s global competitiveness rests heavily on services, including finance, legal services, insurance, and creative industries, the limited progress on services liberalisation represents a missed opportunity that future negotiation rounds may need to address.
The episode also situates the trade agreement within a broader geopolitical and economic context. For the UK, the deal reflects a search for new growth pathways following Brexit and prolonged productivity challenges. For India, it forms part of a broader strategy to expand trade relations while addressing domestic priorities, such as employment generation and workforce participation. The conversation highlights that while trade agreements can open doors, they cannot substitute for domestic structural reforms required to sustain long-term economic growth.
Public perception and political narratives also form part of the discussion, particularly the tendency to conflate trade agreements with migration debates despite the agreement’s narrow focus on goods. Ultimately, the episode emphasizes that the long-term significance of the agreement will depend less on the announcement itself and more on implementation, ratification, and the ability of both countries to expand cooperation into services and other high-value sectors.
Is the UK–India trade deal the foundation of a new economic corridor, or simply an early step in a longer negotiation journey? Listen to this week’s episode of Brown Business to explore the full conversation and decide.
*Disclaimer: The perspectives expressed by the guest are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of our platform. This discussion is intended solely for knowledge-sharing and should not be interpreted as endorsement.
Produced by Global Indian Series for the Global Indian Network.
Script by Rajan Nazran
original idea: Rajan Nazran
Introduction music: (https://freesound.org/people/Timbre)
Inside the Conversation – Chapter Guide
- 00:00 – Introduction: The Buzz Around the UK-India Trade Deal
- 01:20 – Brexit and the Origins of the Deal
- 03:10 – Economic Impact: GDP, Wages, and Trade Projections
- 05:10 – Geopolitical Signalling and Global Trade Realignment
- 07:10 – The UK’s Productivity Problem and Need for Trade Diversification
- 09:10 – Sector Winners and Losers
- 11:00 – Services Exclusion: A Strategic Gap in the Agreement
- 13:10 – Diaspora Influence and Political Context
- 15:00 – Public Perception, Expectations, and Political Stakes
- 17:00 – Migration Debate and Misconceptions
- 19:00 – What Could Have Been Negotiated Better?
- 21:10 – India’s Long-Term Global Role and Workforce Challenges
About Pratik Dattani
Pratik Dattani serves as Managing Director of EPG, a boutique economic consulting firm specialising in market-entry advisory, strategic communications, and rigorous economic analysis. He is also the founder of Bridge India, an award-winning diaspora think tank and the only organisation of its kind operating across Europe.
Previously, Pratik was the UK Director of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), India’s leading industry body. His non-profit engagements include serving on the Global Council of STiR Education and the Global Judging Academy for the GEMS Education Global Teacher Prize. He also co-founded a charity advisory initiative that supported high-net-worth individuals in deploying their philanthropy more strategically and effectively.
Pratik convenes India Week in London, the largest independent UK–India trade and investment forum. The 2025 edition introduced the first-ever UK–India film co-production market.
Earlier in his career, he worked in economic consulting at FTI Consulting and Deloitte across London and Abu Dhabi, specialising in public policy and international arbitration. He also chaired the City Hindus Network, a not-for-profit membership organisation with several thousand members, for three years.
He studied Economics at the University of Warwick, where he received the Prize for Excellence, and at LMU Munich. His dissertation earned recognition at an international economics conference hosted by Georgetown University. Pratik has published academic research in behavioural economics and social impact, contributed to multiple books, particularly on India, and is a frequent media commentator on public policy and India across print, television, and digital platforms. He has also lectured occasionally at King’s College London.
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