The PM is right to take a cautious approach to trade talks with India - The Yorkshire Post says

It is a reflection of Britain’s influence across the globe from the days of the Empire to the present.

Rishi Sunak is the first British PM of Indian heritage while his wife Akshata Murty was born in India. Mr Sunak said he was expecting to be welcomed as “India’s son-in-law” during his first visit to the country since entering Downing Street.

Trade talks are expected to take place during the summit but the PM is right to take a cautious approach.

The PM says that a free trade deal with India is “not a given” and that the quality of any agreement must not be surpassed by the speed with which it is struck.

Trade deals are complex and whatever agreements are put in place need to work for Britain.

We have already seen from the post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand that rushing through talks can compromise British interests.

Mr Sunak’s manner is in stark contrast to the bombastic approach of Boris Johnson, who claimed that a trade deal with India would be in place by the festival of Diwali last year.

It has been a good week on the global stage for the Government. Britain rejoined the European Union’s £85bn Horizon research programme. While Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has been holding bilateral meetings with senior Chinese government figures.

In India, the PM must look to also press the need for India to take climate change more seriously. Mr Sunak’s much more statesmanly approach could prove influential in doing so.