Two weeks after the Brexit vote, the U.K. has launched its first mission aimed at developing new overseas markets.
U.K. Business Secretary Sajid Javid has traveled to India to kick off talks, which will include a discussion of what kind of trading relationship the two countries will have once Britain leaves the EU.
Javid will tell Indian officials that Britain wants a trade agreement in place "as soon as possible" after it leaves the 28-country economic bloc, the U.K. government said.
Before the referendum on June 23, President Obama warned that Brexit would put the U.K. at "the back of the queue" to negotiate a trade deal with the U.S. But India, which has tried for years to strike a deal of its own with the EU, does not appear to share that view.
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The two countries already enjoy close economic links. Tata Motors (TTM), for example, owns luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover. The U.K., in turn, is a leading investor in Indian companies.
For decades, the EU has negotiated trading relationships on Britain's behalf. Now the country faces the challenge of establishing new terms with the EU, as well as with 50 countries the EU has trade deals with.