Boris Johnson has declared he wants a major trade deal with India “done by Diwali”.
The Prime Minister ordered British negotiators to step up efforts to secure an agreement by the festival of lights in October after talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi today.
Officials said progress had been made on four chapters of the deal and focus would now shift to trickier issues in the next round of talks next week.
Speaking alongside Mr Modi, the PM said: “As the next round of talks begin here next week, we’re telling our negotiators, get it done by Diwali in October.”
Mr Modi said there had been “good progress" in the talks and he hoped to "conclude the FTA by the end of this year.”
Signing a trade deal with India would be a major coup but Mr Johnson admitted there were "difficult issues" around things like tariffs on Scotch whisky.
Stripping away these tariffs would significantly boost exports of whisky to India, where it is a popular drink, and could allow the UK to lift tariffs on Indian rice and textiles.
Mr Johnson also made it clear he was open to higher levels of migration from India to take skilled jobs in Britain.
But he was questioned on whether allowing more skilled workers from India would undermine the Brexit promises he made about jobs for British workers.
Mr Johnson said: “The first challenge we have is to raise skills and expectations in our own country, get people into the jobs that we have. We have currently got around 500,000 jobs that aren’t filled, possibly 1.25m vacancies, we have 1.8m people unemployed.
“What I want to see is a lot of those people who are currently on the unemployment register off benefits and into work.”
But he said there were particular shortages, such as IT, where “Indian skills can make a difference”.
The PM said: “I’m going to prioritise skilling up the British people to do those jobs. But I’m not going to be dogmatic in refusing to allow people with skill and talent to aspire to come to the UK… all I would say is we need to control it.”
Mr Johnson was keen to shift the focus on trade after Partygate chaos threatened to derail the entire trip.
He joked how he felt like Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulker when he saw billboards emblazoned with his face and cheering onlookers greeting him on his arrival in Gujarat on Thursday.
Today, he received a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan presidential residence where a military band played 'God Save the Queen'.
Mr Johnson told the media that he had received a fantastic welcome and joked: "I wouldn't get that necessarily everywhere in the world".
Asked if he was "absolutely sure'' he would still be Prime Minister by October, Mr Johnson said: "Yes''.
