By Liam Fox

This week, I will be visiting Delhi and Mumbai on my first visit to India since being appointed as Britain’s Secretary of State for International Trade. I hope that my visit here so early into my new role will show how important I and Britain’s new government view our trade partnership, a partnership that lies at the very heart of the strategic relationship between our two nations. This relationship, built on centuries of shared history and common values, has never been more important than it is today.

India stands to be the third-biggest economy by 2030. It has over 500 million confident young people ready to take on the world and is the world’s largest democracy located at one of the most important geopolitical points on the globe. It is safe to say that India’s future will be all our futures.

Our trading relationship has strong foundations. But, more importantly, it has serious future potential. India is the third-largest investor in Britain and our largest manufacturing employer. The Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) employs 35,000 people in Britain and is a living testament to the fact that we are a vibrant manufacturing nation that is not solely reliant on the prowess of London’s mighty financial services.

And the investment relationship works both ways. British firms currently employ nearly 7,00,000 people in India and, as the largest G20 investor, we contribute around 8 per cent of India’s foreign direct investment (FDI). The two-way nature of this FDI process allows us to see the full benefits of overseas investment.

That is why I am delighted that India is currently pushing through much-needed economic reforms to realise its potential. I welcome the government’s ambition to ensure greater collaboration between the Centre and the 29 states, as well as the unravelling of decades-old red tape that has long stifled foreign investment.

India fuelling car exports

A more open economy means a greater two-way flow of investment, both fuelling an increased capacity in the industrial base and opening the way to greater export potential. Britain is the third-biggest car exporter in Europe because of Indian investment. Our car industry benefits, and so do Indian investors. The great joy about an open trading relationship is that it can be genuinely win-win.

I want India to continue looking to London to finance its ambitious infrastructure plans. Even over the last few months, masala bonds have raised over £1 billion worth of investment. In technology, Britain is sharing its world-leading smart cities expertise to help fulfil the Indian government’s ambition to develop 100 smart cities by 2022. And from aerospace to defence, Britain has world-beating capabilities to contribute even more to India’s Make in India programme.

I arrive in India during an unprecedented time in British politics. On June 23, 2016, the British people made a brave and historic decision to take control of our own destiny and leave the European Union. As Prime Minister Theresa May has said, Brexit means Brexit. But I want to reassure you that I am confident and optimistic about the future. We will now be able to forge a trading future that is right for Britain without having to compromise our own ambitions and potential to satisfy 27 other diverse member states.

Britain has always been a confident and outward-looking nation, always refusing to be constrained by our size or island status and, in the era of globalisation, we need to be open to trading with any market that is functionally similar to our own even if it is not geographically proximate.

We have a system of law, including commercial law, which is admired across the whole world and underpins confidence in investments in Britain. We have a skilled workforce, low levels of industrial disruption, low regulation, low taxation, some of the best universities in the world, we speak English, and we are in the right time zone for global trading. All of this will ensure Britain continues to be an attractive place with which to trade and in which to invest.

For the first time, trade has taken its rightful place at the heart of government and, as the first secretary of state for the new department for international trade, my role is to ensure that it underpins all policymaking. We will help British businesses to take advantage of the growing demand for British products and services in markets like India. And with UK Export Finance, the government’s export credit agency, we will ensure no viable export to India fails because of lack of finance or insurance.

Bound by a bond

I want Britain and India to draw on our unique bonds and shared experience to ensure that we work together across all spheres and are able to grasp the opportunities and face the challenges of our increasingly globalised and interdependent world.

Our strong ties are embodied in the 1.5 million British Indians, whose heritage is India but whose home is Britain. It is fundamental that these are strengthened and deepened so that we can continue to grow and prosper together.

The writer is British Secretary of State for International Trade