Modi to visit London this Diwali?

Wednesday 05th October 2022 09:33 EDT
 
 

There is speculation in the press that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in London for the signing of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) this October end.

The UK-India negotiations have crossed five rounds of talks so far and if reports are to be believed, the leadership of both countries have said they are looking to conclude the pact by Diwali, which is expected to be celebrated on October 24. India and the UK are confident about concluding the FTA before Diwali, and it is expected the agreement will be signed by the trade ministers in the presence of the Indian and British PMs, an official aware of developments told Hindustan Times. A final decision on the visit and logistics is expected by the first week of October, the official added, requesting anonymity.

It was further reported that Modi’s planned visit is expected to include a business roundtable with leading businesspeople. In addition to economic issues, the two sides are also expected to unveil a new arrangement for closer cooperation in defence and security, which forms one of the five pillars of the India-UK 2030 Roadmap finalised in 2021.

Commerce secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said on September 3 that the India-UK FTA is “very much on track”. He added, “Our fingers are touching…The Diwali deadline is not going to be missed. Mark my words.”

In the past, UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has made three official visits to India as the Foreign Secretary of UK, the one in March 2022 awkwardly coincided with the presence of her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. During her India visit in March-end, Minister of External Affairs of India, S Jaishankar and Truss discussed the divergences between India and the UK on the issue of sanctions on Russia.

The British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said, “Liz Truss will further strengthen the UK-India comprehensive strategic partnership. She knows India well and has visited 3 times in the last 18 months. She re-kickstarted our trade negotiations which are now in full swing”.

Earlier this year, the UK government announced that on 29 July 2022, the Republic of India and the United Kingdom concluded the fifth round of talks for an India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Negotiation officials undertook these technical talks in a hybrid fashion – with some of the teams meeting in New Delhi, India, and the majority of officials joining virtually.

For this round of negotiations, technical experts from both sides came together for detailed draft treaty text discussions in 85 separate sessions covering 15 policy areas. Indian and UK officials will continue to work intensively throughout the summer towards our target to conclude the majority of talks on a comprehensive and balanced Free Trade Agreement by the end of October 2022.


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