Britain's trade minister on Wednesday defended a contentious tax break for some Indian workers agreed as part of a landmark free trade agreement with India, saying the idea that he had undercut British workers was "absolute nonsense".

That alone makes the trade deal agreed between India and Britain on May 6th significant—perhaps even a “landmark”, as Britain’s prime minister and his opposite number, Narendra Modi, claimed. The deal will add a useful boost to trade between the world’s fifth- and sixth-largest economies.

The UK and India have agreed a trade deal to make it cheaper and easier to buy and sell goods and services to one another. The hope is that the deal will benefit the economies of both countries. The British government said the deal was the "biggest and most economically significant" trade agreement the UK had signed since leaving the European Union in 2020.