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Hi John,
The UK government is gearing up to start trade talks with India later this year. This will be the first big ‘new’ trade deal that the UK has done with a country in the global south.

We’re afraid that if the government follows its usual approach to trade deals this could pose huge risks, privileging corporate power over ordinary people’s lives and the vital need to tackle the climate crisis.

The UK government is running a consultation. We’re telling the government, well in advance, that this trade deal needs to be different - it needs to work for people and planet. Can you join us and co-sign our submission to the consultation?
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** Farmers protests
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At the end of last year, tens of thousands of farmers in India marched to the capital to protest about new laws being brought in by the far-right Modi government. The vast majority of farmers in India are small-scale, and they are afraid the new laws will lead to increasing debt, more bankruptcies, loss of land and increasing corporate control of farming in the country.[1]

One of our allies from the farmers movement in India told me back then that he feared one of the reasons the Modi government was introducing these new laws was to prepare the ground for doing a trade deal with the UK. The laws would open up more of the food and farming sector in India to big business and thus make a trade deal more appealing for corporations.

Trade deals shouldn’t be about selling off more and more of our lives to big business. And a trade deal with India must not be about making it easier for UK based corporations to plunder the natural resources of the global South.


**
Are we the bad guys?
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When it comes to healthcare, in trade talks with the US, there have been many concerns about the risks to our NHS. In negotiations with India though, it’s the UK that might be in the role of the villain.

India has long been known as the pharmacy of the developing world, and its key role in producing vaccines and medicines has been highlighted by the pandemic. Yet in past trade talks the UK has pushed for changes to trade rules on medicine patents that would make medicines more expensive and harder to access. The UK has also pushed for more privatisation through trade deals.

It doesn’t have to be that way - and that’s what we want to say to the UK government before these trade talks start. Let’s take a different approach.


**
And there’s more
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Unfortunately our worries don’t stop there:
* Corporate courts: India is one of the countries around the world that has been rejecting corporate courts. We need to make sure the UK doesn’t use these trade talks to put pressure on India to change its mind.
* Climate: we need to make sure that nothing in these trade talks contradicts climate goals or undermines climate action.
* Digital economy: the UK wants to do lots in trade deals about the increasingly dominant digital world. But at present this mainly seems to be about expanding the power of giant digital platforms and corporations like Facebook and Amazon. Instead, we need to rein in corporate power online and put the focus on how the digital economy can support decent jobs, local economies and development.

These are our red lines for a trade deal between the UK and India. Without these, a trade deal will be toxic and could cause immense damage.

Will you join us in telling the UK government how important this is? You can read our full submission at the link.
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Thank you for all that you do.

Jean Blaylock
Trade campaigner at Global Justice Now

Notes
1) India at a turning point ([link removed]) , IATP, Dec 2020
** Behind closed doors...
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The government is using trade rules to make life easier for big business, stripping away standards that protect us and our world.  

Regular gifts give us the long-term stability to plan effective campaigns for a more just world, as well as to react to damaging trade deals with speed and strength.

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