UK-India Free Trade Agreement will be on the agenda LONDON: “India Week” will take place across the UK next month, bringing together more than 100 business leaders from across India, organizers have said. Political leaders from seven parties across eight states have confirmed their attendance at the largest India-related conference in Europe this year, they added. Global advisory firm Economic Policy Group’s India Week, which will be held from May 7 to 12, is its annual global flagship event that gathers change-makers and policy and business leaders “for high-level discussions on pertinent topics, including the UK-India Free Trade Agreement,” organizers said in a statement. The speakers confirmed include: Dr. Raghuram Rajan, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Rahul Narwekar, speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly; Rohit Pawar, member of the Legislative Assembly in Maharashtra; Priyanka Chaturvedi, MP for Maharashtra; Kartikeya Sharma, MP for Haryana; Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, managing director of Pride East Entertainment; Pradyot Manikya, chairman of Tipra Motha in Tripura; Jayesh Ranjan, principal secretary of Industries and Commerce, and IT departments in Telangana; Mohammed Ali Ashraf Fatmi, national spokesperson for JDU, Bihar; Abhinandan Sekhri, co-founder of Newslaundry; and Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water. They will be coming especially for the “Ideas for India” conference, organized alongside the non-profit think tank Bridge India. The events start with an exclusive CEOs’ golf weekend on May 7-8 at Rutland Hall and Spa in Leicestershire, where more than 20 CEOs from India are expected to attend. The Education Innovation Conference in Oxford, organized in partnership with the Worldwide Business Research, and including Prof. Jonathan Michie OBE, pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, and leadership from more than 40 higher education institutions in India are also included. The Ideas for India conference in London on May 11-12 will include a dinner at the House of Commons and a formal dinner to celebrate closer UK-India ties. Discussions during Ideas for India will include the topics of bilateral relations with the UK, India’s growth as a geopolitical power, investment opportunities in India, the importance of federalism, and a special focus on the North East. Pratik Dattani, managing director of EPG, said: “India is the world’s fastest-growing economy today, ahead of China,” adding: “Its progress in financial inclusion, technology, renewable energy, infrastructure building, and the geopolitical leadership it offers the Global South, is admirable.” Dattani said that he was “delighted that such a wide range of policy and business leaders have chosen to come to India Week in the UK,” as it “underlines the importance of the UK as a global gateway for India, ahead of the free trade agreement that is being negotiated between the two countries.” The event in May 2022 was attended by more than 500 delegates over two days, including seven political parties from India and the two major ones from the UK. Lord Tariq Ahmad, minister of state at the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, said: “I’m grateful to the team at Bridge India for organizing this important conference. It provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate the deep friendship between our two countries, and also look to the future.” “It is this trusted partnership that extends to trade as well (and) we’ve already got a strong track history on this,” he said. “Just look at Reliance Industries’ recent investment into the UK battery industry.”