The two countries signed a deal three years after negotiations began to strengthen alliances in what the British prime minister called a “new era” of trade.

Opposition politicians have criticised a provision in Tuesday’s deal exempting some temporary Indian workers from national insurance payments.

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.