Panel Discussion · 17 July 2026

Terms of Trade: India, Britain, and the Long Shadow of Empire.

India just signed a trade deal with Britain. Is this a partnership — or a familiar pattern?

The Core Question

“India has signed a new trade agreement with Britain. Does this represent a fundamentally new partnership between equals — or does history offer lessons that should inform how modern trade agreements are evaluated?”

The Roundtable examines the India–UK Free Trade Agreement (signed 2025) through the lens of 200 years of colonial economic history. India’s share of world GDP fell from 34% to 1.8% under British rule.

Today India negotiates on near-equal footing — but the terms still matter. Understanding what was extracted in the past is the only honest way to know what a fair deal looks like in the present.

Date

Friday, 17 July 2026

Venue

India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

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Format

Panel · Q&A · Press

Invite-only.

Speakers

Dr. Charan Singh

CEO & Founder Director, EGROW Foundation

An economist whose work spans monetary policy, financial inclusion and the long arc of India’s economic development.

Prof. Abhijit Das

International Trade Policy & WTO Expert

A leading authority on international trade policy and the WTO, with decades of experience advising governments on trade negotiations and dispute settlement.

Mr. Prasenjit K. Basu

Economist & Historian · Author of India Reborn and Asia Reborn

Economist and historian whose books trace how Asia — and India within it — remade its economic destiny across the 20th century.

Prof. Prabhu Mohapatra

Retd Professor & Head Department of History University of Delhi.

After my PhD, I held a Fellowship at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, followed by postdoctoral appointments at Yale University, SOAS London (1994), and the University of Amsterdam.