India-United Kingdom relations
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 United Kingdom |
 India |
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| Envoy | |
| High Commissioner Dominic Asquith | High Commissioner Y.K. Sinha |
The Indian–British relations are foreign relations between the Republic of India and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. India has a high commission in London and two consulates-general in Birmingham and Edinburgh. The United Kingdom has a high commission in New Delhi and five deputy high commissions in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Both countries are full members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Historically, the UK ruled India for nine decades before Indians gained independence in 1947.
The UK has an ethnic Indian population of over 1.4 million. Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron described Indian – British relations as the "New Special Relationship" in 2010.
Trade was established between Tudor England and Mughal India in 1600 when Elizabeth I granted the newly formed East India Company a royal charter. After the Mughal Empire's decline in 1707, India was it a leading manufacturing country in the world in the early 18th century. It had 22.6 percent share of the world's GDP, by the time British left the country its GDP was near 4%. During 18th century, the East India Company began to gain greater influence in India. The Battle of Plassey in 1757 led to the conquest of Bengal while by 1857, following various treaties and wars with Indian kingdoms (such as the Anglo-Mysore Wars with Tipu Sultan, the Anglo-Maratha Wars and the Anglo-Sikh wars), the East India Company controlled most of the Indian subcontinent. Following the Indian Mutiny of 1857, where Indian sepoys rebelled against their British officers, the East India Company was dissolved the following year. The assets of the British East India Company became so huge that the British government decided to step in. India served as the main base for the British Empire's expansion across Asia and would remain the empire's most important colony until independence. Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1858. From a small trading outpost, India became the jewel in the British crown.
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