Foreign governments have vigorously lobbied the government to prise open the 26% lid. In fact, Frank Keating, governor of Iowa state in the US and president of American Council of Life Insurers, is also in India to take up the case of US insurance companies who want to do business here but are deterred by the low ceiling. Keating said that the 26% cap was keeping American companies away.

The need to counter the evergrowing perception that the government is not moving forward on big-ticket reforms may be a big motivation for the fresh effort at getting some progress on easing the FDI cap.

Left’s resistance has been the chief stumbling block for a government eager to expand the field by letting in big global names in the insurance sector. Karat’s reaction showed that Left remains unrelenting. Indeed, a senior Left leader appeared to mock Chidambaram’s assurance to Brown. “From time to time, the finance minister keeps making this promise,” he said, adding, “We will oppose it tooth and nail.”

During the meeting, opening of the banking sector also came up and India sought greater freedom for its banks to operate in the UK.

Chidambaram also assured Brown that Vodafone, a leading British telecom player which is bidding for India’s fourth largest cellular service provider Hutch-Essar, would not be discriminated against.