In a bilateral meeting on the margins of G7, PM Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Rishi Sunak reviewed the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and took stock of progress in the ongoing FTA negotiations, reaffirming commitment to an ambitious and mutually beneficial deal. This was the second in-person meeting between the two leaders after their interaction on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali last year.
According to an Indian readout, the two leaders agreed to deepen cooperation across a wide range of areas, such as trade and investment, science and technology, higher education, and people-to-people contacts.
“They discussed progress on a UK-India Free Trade Agreement. The leaders agreed that their teams would continue to work at pace to finalise an ambitious and mutually beneficial deal,” a Downing Street spokesperson was quoted as saying.
“The leaders discussed the wider objectives of the G7 Summit and the Prime Minister (Sunak) committed his strong support for India’s G20 presidency, which comes at a crucial time for global security and prosperity. He looked forward to working closely with PM Modi ahead of a successful summit later this year,” the spokesperson added.
Modi told Sunak he looked forward to welcoming him to New Delhi for the G20 summit in September. He also met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. This was the first meeting between the two. They reviewed their strategic partnership, and discussed ways to further deepen it, especially in sectors of defence production, trade, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, dairy and animal husbandry and bio-fuels and clean energy. They called for a high level meeting of business leaders from both countries.
“They emphasised the importance of continued cooperation in multilateral platforms, and the long-standing need of reform of multilateral institutions. PM looked forward to welcoming President Lula in India for the G20 Summit in September,” the government said.