BREXIT (Britain’s Exit)

BREXIT (Britain’s Exit) After months of negotiation, the UK and EU agreed a Brexit deal at Brussels summit. What is Brexit? Brexit is a term used to denote Britain’s Exit. ™ Brexit is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU), following a referendum held on June in which . per cent of those voting supported leaving the EU. ™ The invocation of Article of the Lisbon Treaty set a two-year process which was due to conclude with the UK’s exit on March . ™ On March the European Council agreed to the UK’s request to extend the deadline and extended it to April . After Independence in , India continued to be closely involved with Europe, primarily with the UK, as part of the Commonwealth of Nations. India’s relations with the rest of Europe were hued by the Cold War. India espoused a Non-Aligned stance which was viewed with distrust and her closeness to the Soviet Union after the war with China in led to a further schism. Engagement in trade, technology, education did exist but were in low key till India instituted liberalization in . In , the India -EU Cooperation Agreement was signed which made India one of the first countries in the world to engage with the EU as an entity. In the EU- India Strategic Partnership was concluded. However, the attempts since to arrive at a free trade agreement have been deadlocked since . The EU was India’s largest trading partner in - with USD . billion in bilateral trade, but BREXIT might impact that going forward. Another issue in the EU-India relationship which the Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility seeks to address is preventing illegal migration and streamlining mobility for citizens. The EU and India have some common interests other than trade – preventing climate change, maintenance of the Iran nuclear deal, increased cooperation in education and technology including nuclear energy. The EU model of federal democratic government with devolved state power should be of interest to India who has to deal with a federal structure and a multicultural society too.