India-UK Trade Diplomacy

When India and the United Kingdom signed the “Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)” on July 24, 2025, it was celebrated as a breakthrough in trade diplomacy. For India, the deal is not just about reducing tariffs on goods but also about securing a more open and predictable environment for its service sectors and among them, telecommunications stands out as a critical focus area. Over the last decade, telecom has transformed from being merely a utility sector into a strategic enabler of India’s Digital India vision, powering digital payments, e-governance, e-commerce and connectivity for nearly 1.2 billion mobile subscribers. The inclusion of a full-fledged telecom chapter in CETA reflects New Delhi’s decision to leverage trade policy as a tool to strengthen this digital backbone.