Finance
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin a two-day visit to the United Kingdom on Wednesday. During the visit, he is scheduled to call on King Charles III and hold a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday.
DD India’s correspondent spoke with India’s High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, about the prospects of the visit, including the highly anticipated free trade pact and how it is expected to enhance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations.
Regarding the visit, High Commissioner Doraiswami described it as a “short but very focused” trip. He noted that the Prime Minister’s agenda is aimed at elevating the India-UK relationship to the next level.
Doraiswami explained that the focus is on advancing key sectors seen as forward-looking pillars of the partnership. This includes the technology domain, where the UK and India have collaborated under the Technology Security Initiative launched last year. The trade relationship, which has been steadily growing, is another major focus area. Education also plays a significant role, with a large number of Indian students studying in the UK and many British universities opening campuses in India. He emphasized India’s openness to partnerships with quality universities to meet the growing demand for high-quality education.
On the free trade agreement, Doraiswami said the trade ministers have announced the completion of formal negotiations. Currently, both sides are engaged in a last-minute sprint to complete the legal scrubbing and necessary paperwork.
He added that the message the leadership wants to convey is that the world’s fourth-largest and sixth-largest economies are actively doing business together. The ongoing efforts aim to simplify business operations, investment processes, and legal and practical arrangements for qualified personnel to travel between the two countries, thereby supporting mutual trade and investment. He called these efforts “good things” and highlighted their importance as a message in itself.
