UK Foreign Secretary visits India to boost trade deal ambitions
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrived in New Delhi yesterday on a two-day visit aimed at accelerating negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement between India and UK. Accompanied by a business delegation, Lammy is looking to push discussions on the proposed trade pact into high gear while also exploring ways to deepen cooperation across critical areas like clean energy and emerging technologies.
In remarks made prior to embarking on the trip, Lammy stressed that concluding an India-UK FTA is just the starting point and not the ceiling for ambitions to unleash shared economic potentials. He pointed out that both countries have much to gain from closer economic alignment given India’s prominence as a global powerhouse and the UK’s strengths in areas such as innovation, sustainability and business.
High-level talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other government representatives will focus on ironing out lingering issues to enable an early finalization of the trade deal. Issues around import duties on automobiles, alcoholic beverages and skilled professional visas are said to be the main sticking points needing resolution. Lammy will also seek to ‘reset’ the wide-ranging partnership through new collaborations centered on climate action, digitalization and security cooperation.
On the sidelines, the Foreign Secretary is scheduled to engage business leaders and visit a major Indian technology company. This will provide an opportunity to explore win-win partnerships between UK and Indian corporates and emphasize how their combined strengths can address pressing worldwide problems.
Overall, the visit aims to impart fresh momentum to the FTA talks while setting the stage for closer alignment across a breadth of mutual priority areas. As two influential democracies on the global stage, striking ambitious agreements stands to significantly boost bilateral relations between India and UK for years to come.
