NEW DELHI: UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Lammy will visit India this week for what be the first high-level engagement between India and the new Labour govt in the UK. The visit is expected to see both sides reaffirming commitment to a mutually beneficial FTA, while also discussing other bilateral issues including the Indian govt’s case for action against separatists who continue to target Indian interests in Britain.
Lammy will hold talks with his counterpart S Jaishankar on Thursday and also meet commerce minister Piyush Goyal to discuss progress in efforts to conclude negotiations for the FTA. UK PM Keir Starmer told his counterpart Narendra Modi in their conversation earlier this month he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides.
In the talks, both agreed there was a wide range of areas across defence and security, critical and emerging technology, and climate change, for the two countries to deepen cooperation on. Just before the elections in UK, Lammy had criticised the then ruling Conservative govt for failing to close the trade deal and said he intended to get the it done as soon as possible.
“My message to Sitharaman and Goyal is that Labour is ready to go. Let’s finally get our free trade deal done and move on,” he said. According to an agency report from London, a source in Delhi said the Indian side would seek clarity on whether the Labour govt intends to pick things up from where they were left off or start afresh in some way.
Lammy will hold talks with his counterpart S Jaishankar on Thursday and also meet commerce minister Piyush Goyal to discuss progress in efforts to conclude negotiations for the FTA. UK PM Keir Starmer told his counterpart Narendra Modi in their conversation earlier this month he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides.
In the talks, both agreed there was a wide range of areas across defence and security, critical and emerging technology, and climate change, for the two countries to deepen cooperation on. Just before the elections in UK, Lammy had criticised the then ruling Conservative govt for failing to close the trade deal and said he intended to get the it done as soon as possible.
“My message to Sitharaman and Goyal is that Labour is ready to go. Let’s finally get our free trade deal done and move on,” he said. According to an agency report from London, a source in Delhi said the Indian side would seek clarity on whether the Labour govt intends to pick things up from where they were left off or start afresh in some way.
