LONDON: Britain and India signed a free trade agreement on Thursday during a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sealing a deal to cut tariffs on goods from textiles to whisky and cars and allow more market access for businesses.

Talks on the trade pact were concluded in May after three years of stop-start negotiations, with both sides hastening efforts to clinch a deal in the shadow of tariff turmoil unleashed by US President Donald Trump.

The agreement between the world`s fifth and sixth largest economies aims to increase bilateral trade by a further 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion) by 2040. It is Britain`s biggest trade deal since it left the European Union in 2020 but its impact will be a fraction of the effect of leaving the orbit of its closest trading partner.

It is India`s biggest strategic partnership with an advanced economy, and it could provide a template for a long-mooted deal with the EU and for talks with other regions. Both sides hailed as historic a deal which will take effect following a ratification process, likely within a year, after which firms such as whisky distiller Diageo and carmakers including BMW, Nissan, Aston Martin and Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover could benefit from lower duties. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there would be huge benefits for both countries, making trade cheaper, quicker and easier. `We`ve entered a new global era, and that is one that requires us to step up, not to stand aside... by building deeper partnerships and alliances,` Starmer said in a statement next to Modi at his Chequers country residence.

Modi called the agreement `a blueprint for our shared prosperity,` highlighting how Indian goods from textiles to jewelry and seafood would secure better market access.

The countries also agreed a partnership covering areas such as defence and climate, and aim to strengthen cooperation on tackling crime. Modi spent nearly three hours with Starmer before going to meet King Charles at his Sandringham Estate.-Reuters