They stalled it till the elections, which means nothing moves till June. A new law minister will be appointed, who will take a month or so to settle in. But by then the UK elections will be approaching and the UK government will be more focused on that. So well played, SILF.
But how did they lobby so effectively? It takes a lot of clout to stall an entire FTA with a major world power like the UK! Did they approach Gautam Adani? Or Amit Shah? Or Modi himself?
The godfather of SILF prided himself on being a close friend of P Chidambaram and other Congress politicians. He lobbied with them to stop liberalisation in the UPA years. Since 2014 he has gone full bhakt mode and lobbied Bada Saab over various things, including this.
having watched this space (and waited) for more than two decades, may I suggest that the reason is perhaps not how SILF blocks it but how the supposed beneficiaries do not do anything? You dont lobby, dont organise, dont petititon and yet expect that the person you seem to dislike, yes Modi, will fight your battles for you?
think about it, Modi, despite you not agreeing with him, has done more than anyone else. The rules are ready... so what are you people waiting for?
I disagree with you. The UK government has lobbied very hard and many delegations have come. But the Indian government has adamantly refused, because of SILF (or rather the family that controls SILF). The UK government cannot force India to change policy. The other thing is that India gives other concessions to the make the UK happy, such as better IPR protection of buying defence equipment.
This is true. It was Lalit Bhasin (SILF chairman) and Kian even covered it for LI many years ago. Bhasin literally said that foreign law firms will exploit India like the East India Company!
BTW do Google for Lalit Bhasin. He used to be a lobbyist and was member of the Congress party back in the 80s and 90s. Once when India Today did a story (in the 90s) calling him a lobbyist he wrote an angry letter to them claiming that he was a lawyer and not a lobbyist or fixer. I actually shared these links from India Today on LI once and will be happy to do so again if you want.
But of course Bhasin is just a token figurehead for SILF. We know who really runs SILF.
There are other issues in the FTA, like IP issues. EFTA saw a minor dilution of India's IP laws that were considered too strict. UK expects more from us. Similarly there are more issues.
Being from the IP space and involved in EFTA-related work (through my firm) I can tell you that IP is not that much of a conflict area now. Indian companies themselves want stronger IP protection, including trade secrets for pharmaceuticals. The contentious days of the 2000s are gradually going away. So legal services are a bigger stumbling block than IP.
Let's not forget the recent case of 'lawyers' moving to the Delhi High Court questioning how BCI can disregard the ruling in AK Balaji by allowing firms. They will keep stalling progress.
But how did they lobby so effectively? It takes a lot of clout to stall an entire FTA with a major world power like the UK! Did they approach Gautam Adani? Or Amit Shah? Or Modi himself?
think about it, Modi, despite you not agreeing with him, has done more than anyone else. The rules are ready... so what are you people waiting for?
BTW do Google for Lalit Bhasin. He used to be a lobbyist and was member of the Congress party back in the 80s and 90s. Once when India Today did a story (in the 90s) calling him a lobbyist he wrote an angry letter to them claiming that he was a lawyer and not a lobbyist or fixer. I actually shared these links from India Today on LI once and will be happy to do so again if you want.
But of course Bhasin is just a token figurehead for SILF. We know who really runs SILF.
-A third gen lit Lawyer