Indian business leans towards remain

The reaction of the Indian business community has generally been cautious but leans towards the UK remaining in the EU. The secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry stated in a press release that a British decision to leave the EU “would create considerable uncertainty for Indian businesses” and would “possibly have an adverse impact on investment and movement of professionals to the UK”.

While some business leaders see potential opportunities for enhanced India-UK cooperation in the event of a Brexit, many share concerns with other parts of the world about the risks of future instability.

It is uncertain whether a post-Brexit UK would be able to secure greater cooperation with India than it already has. Much would also depend on a future UK-EU agreement that might restrict the number of UK’s options to pursue potentially conflicting deals.

It’s likely that there would be significant barriers to concluding a new agreement: for example, any change to the free movement of skilled workers would be politically difficult against the background of the UK’s heated migration debates. So there is no evidence that the UK and India could reach an agreement any more quickly than the current India-EU BITA, currently under discussion.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. We welcome your comments at ideas.india@qz.com.

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