India's Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal, ended his two-day visit to the United Kingdom with a focus on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Commerce Minister met with ministers from European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members during his two-day visit on July 10–11 to discuss the development of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA).
"The visit comes at a crucial juncture, as both India and the UK are committed to expanding their economic ties and exploring avenues for enhanced bilateral trade. With the FTA negotiations gaining momentum, the visit aims to further propel the discussions and pave the way for a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement that would drive economic growth and strengthen ties between the two nations," the official release said.
Meanwhile, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his UK counterpart Tim Barrow agreed to enhance India-UK cooperation to address violent extremism and radicalism. The two sides agreed that there can be no justification for violent extremism and radicalization in a democracy.
The National Security Advisors of India and UK met for restricted discussions on regional and global issues of mutual interest. This was followed by delegation-level talks where both countries reaffirmed their close strategic partnership and agreed to accord maximum priority to further enhance security linkages, as per sources.
According to official UK government statistics, the India-UK bilateral trading relationship was worth £34 billion in 2022, growing by £10 billion in one year.