India’s £2.6bn legal services market moved a step closer to full liberalisation this week when professional bodies agreed a 'road map' for reform.

Justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, the Law Society and the Bar Council spent three days in Delhi speaking with Indian lawyers, ministers and officials, including Salman Khurshid, law and justice minister.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Society said professional legal bodies from both countries had agreed jointly to 'thrash out a timetabled roadmap to pave the way for the legal sectors in both countries to benefit from greater access to India's legal services market'.

Society president John Wotton said: 'We are very pleased to have agreed a way forward. We look forward to reaching an agreement which has significant benefits to both sides.'