India-UK FTA negotiations could be brought to successful conclusion soon: Sunak tells Rajnath Singh

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met in London, during which the British leader expressed hope that the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations could be brought to a “successful conclusion soon”. Sunak also underlined his and his government’s keenness to strengthen the defence and security pillar of the bilateral relationship, including through Government backing for stronger business and technology partnerships with Indian counterpart entities. “The meeting was warm and cordial,” said the Ministry of Defence.

Had a very warm meeting with the UK Prime Minister, Shri @rishisunak in London. I had the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues with him.

We discussed issues pertaining to defence, economic cooperation and how 🇮🇳 and 🇬🇧 could work together for strengthening a peaceful… pic.twitter.com/1yk2RWJpbn

— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) January 11, 2024

During the meeting, the Defence Minister highlighted that both India and UK have made significant strides in moulding and recrafting the historic ties into a modern, multifaceted and mutually beneficial partnership, under the direction of the leaders of both the countries. Singh also recalled the recent enhancement in bilateral defence engagement, spanning joint exercises, training, capability building, increased interoperability, military-to-military ties especially in the maritime domain. He emphasised the ongoing efforts to enhance defence industrial cooperation, including in the technology domain. The Defence Minister also briefed Sunak about his positive interactions with the UK defence industry and the new positive energy in the bilateral defence relationship. Singh also told Sunak that the UK and other like-minded countries should work with India for strengthening a peaceful and stable global rules-based order. A Ram Darbar statue was gifted by Singh to the UK PM during the meeting. The Defence Minister also met with the UK’s Foreign Minister Lord David Cameron at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The Ministers appreciated the new momentum and direction of the India-UK partnership, symbolised by intense engagements at various levels. Cameron reiterated the UK government’s desire to collaborate with India in the defence areas, particularly in the field of defence industrial collaboration, as one of the means by which the UK hopes to strengthen the support for a rule-based international order. The Defence Minister also interacted with the Indian community at India House, London. Over 160 prominent persons of Indian origin attended the interaction. A number of Indian military ex-servicemen, including few family members of World War II veterans were also present.