U.K. aims for free trade agreement with India in latest post-Brexit push

The U.K. began formal preparation for a free-trade agreement with India, a post-Brexit target for Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he seeks to prove the benefit of leaving the European Union.

Britain will do a 14-week consultation on the potential accord with the world’s largest democracy with the aim of starting negotiations in the fall, the Department for International Trade said in a statement. The U.K. and India want to double trade between their two countries by 2030, up from about 23 billion pounds ($33 billion) in 2019.

Johnson’s government wants to strengthen economic alliances around the world following the EU divorce,