New Delhi:

The India-UK relationship has enormous possibilities and realising them meaningfully is the task at hand, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday during talks with his British counterpart David Lammy that focused on galvanising the ties including to push for a free trade pact.

Mr Lammy is on a two-day visit to India primarily to reset the overall partnership between the two countries in crucial areas such as trade, defence and security, clean energy, new technologies, digital domain and mobility of people.

The British foreign secretary called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said India remains committed to elevating its ties with the UK and welcomes the desire to conclude a mutually beneficial free trade pact.

Mr Lammy’s visit to New Delhi is the first high-level engagement between India and the UK after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government came to power on July 5.

“I do believe that our relationship, it is a very important relationship at the enormous possibilities there,” Mr Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the meeting with Mr Lammy.

“And how we explore those possibilities, how do we realise our potential in a more meaningful way, is one of the tasks that I look forward to undertaking with you,” he said.

“We are both countries which have a big global presence in different ways. So I think it’s also important that India and the UK work together on global issues and in global platforms,” Mr Jaishankar said.

As he embarked on the high-profile trip, Mr Lammy described the negotiations for the trade deal as the floor and not the ceiling of the ambitions to unlock shared potential and deliver growth.

“India is the emerging superpower of the 21st century, the largest country in the world with 1.4 billion people and one of the fastest growing economies in the world,” Mr Lammy said.

“Our Free Trade Agreement negotiations is the floor not the ceiling of our ambitions to unlock our shared potential and deliver growth, from Bengaluru to Birmingham,” he said.

A British government readout said Mr Lammy will push for a “reset” of the UK-India partnership including through reinforcing London’s commitment to securing a free trade agreement that will benefit both economies.

It said the foreign secretary will also galvanise support for accelerated action on the climate crisis with India as an “indispensable partner”, driving forward the clean energy transition and creating opportunities for British and Indian businesses.

“We have shared interests on the green transition, new technologies, economic security and global security,” Mr Lammy was quoted as saying in the readout.

In their talks, Mr Jaishankar and Mr Lammy are learnt to have reviewed the implementation of the India-UK roadmap that seeks to broad-base the ties in a range of areas.

In 2021, India and the UK adopted the 10-year roadmap to expand ties in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections among others.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Indian and UK officials will continue their negotiations till the month-end to iron out differences on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), the commerce ministry said on Sunday.

This meeting will be followed by a review at the higher level, it said.

Following the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers Meeting (TIMM) at Jaipur, the progress of the negotiations was reviewed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and UK’s Secretary of State for Trade Kemi Badenoch on August 26.

“Teams are going to continue negotiations till the end of August 2023 which will be followed by stock taking at the higher level,” it said.

While expressing satisfaction over the last 12 rounds of negotiations wherein several chapters have been finalized, both exuded confidence that the next round of talks to be similarly successful.

“Both Chief Negotiators apprised the ministers about the current state of play, issues outstanding for resolution and their continuous joint efforts to iron out the same,” the ministry added.

The ministers directed the officials to maintain a good pace of exchanges with a better understanding of each other’s aspirations and sensitivities.

“Both leaders expressed their unwavering commitment to reaching a conclusion on a fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial trade deal that will enhance economic cooperation between the two countries,” it added.

In a separate statement, the ministry said that Goyal and Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs Helene Budliger Artieda also held talks on ways to strengthen economic ties.

They reviewed the progress made in the ongoing negotiations for a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and EFTA (European Free Trade Association).

The EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

“Both leaders reiterated their shared vision of achieving a mutually beneficial trade deal based on the principle of reciprocity that reflects the evolving economic landscapes of both India and the EFTA countries,” it said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry. File.
| Photo Credit: Kamal Narang

Union Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal is heading for a two-day visit to London, starting Monday, to take forward negotiations for bilateral trade pacts with the United Kingdom and the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) bloc.

Mr. Goyal will engage in high-level meetings with his U.K. counterparts, including the Secretary of State for International Trade, as well as representatives from various sectors and industries. U.K.’s Minister for International Trade Nigel Huddleston said last week that half of the chapters in the proposed bilateral trade agreement had been worked out and concluded already.

“These meetings will provide an opportunity to discuss the key priorities and objectives of the Free Trade Agreement [FTA] negotiations, with a focus on addressing trade barriers, promoting investments, and fostering greater cooperation in areas such as technology, innovation, and intellectual property rights,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

Meetings are also scheduled with ministers from the EFTA member-countries — Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein — to assess the progress made in the ongoing negotiations of a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). The pact will strive to enhance trade and economic cooperation between India and the EFTA member-countries, fostering an environment conducive to increased investments, reduced trade barriers, and greater market access.