PM Modi, his British counterpart Rishi Sunak commends progress in India-UK Free Trade Agreement

Apulia [Italy], June 14 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between the two countries.
Prime Minister Modi held a bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the sidelines of the 50th Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) in Apulia, Italy on Friday.
UK PM Sunak congratulated PM Modi on his historic third consecutive term and the two world leaders reaffirmed the shared commitment to further strengthen bilateral relations between the countries.
The leaders further discussed the implementation of the Roadmap 2030 and expressed happiness on progress in all areas of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership including regular high-level political consultations, defence and security, trade and economic collaboration, critical and high technology sectors and people-to-people ties.
Moreover, the leaders also discussed regional and multilateral matters of mutual interest.
During the meeting, PM Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to the people of the UK ahead of their snap general elections scheduled for next month.
Follwing the bilateral meeting, PM Modi shared a post on X, reiterating his commitment to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in his third term.
PM Modi further stressed that there is a great scope to deepen ties in sectors like semiconductors, technology and trade.
"It was a delight to meet PM @RishiSunak in Italy. I reiterated my commitment to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the third term of the NDA Government. There is great scope to deepen ties in sectors like semiconductors, technology and trade. We also talked about further cementing ties in the defence sector," he said on X.
https://x.com/narendramodi/status/1801565043919643070
The Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal took to X, stating that the two global leaders took stock of bilateral relations in several sectors including defence, security and trade.
"Giving further impetus to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! PM @narendramodi had a fruitful meeting with UK PM @RishiSunak
on the sidelines of the 50th G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy. The two leaders took stock of bilateral relations in areas of defence and security, trade and economic collaboration, critical and high technology sectors and people to people connect. They discussed implementation of Roadmap 2030 and progress made in ongoing FTA negotiations," the MEA Spokesperson stated on X.
https://x.com/MEAIndia/status/1801567741893054893
The long-awaited trade deal between India and Britain is likely to be signed after the completion of elections. Last month, the Ministry of Commerce organised a Chintan Shivir to provide information related to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to the stakeholders and officials.
During the meeting, officials discussed strategies and vision for 2047, economic assessments and modelling of FTAs, inclusion of new disciplines like environment, labour, gender issues, and digital trade.
A total of 13 rounds of negotiations for the India-UK FTA have been held so far, and the 14th round began on January 10, 2024.
The trade negotiations between both countries opened in January 2022. It aims to secure an "ambitious" outcome for bilateral trade - currently worth around GBP 38.1 billion a year, according to official statistics.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi also held a bilateral meeting with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
PM Modi is in Italy's Apulia to participate in the Group of Seven (G7) Summit. After landing here, PM Modi said he was looking forward to engaging in productive discussions with world leaders.
He also said that they aim to address global challenges and foster international cooperation for a brighter future.
Notably, India is participating in the summit as an Outreach country.
The summit is taking place at the luxurious Borgo Egnazia resort in Italy's Apulia region from June 13-15. PM Modi is attending the summit at the invitation of Italian PM Giorgia Meloni.
As PM Modi touched down at Brindisi Airport in Apulia late Thursday night (local time), he was received by India's Ambassador to Italy, Vani Rao, and other officials.
This marks PM Modi's first trip abroad after assuming office for the third consecutive term.
PM Modi will also hold a bilateral meeting with the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday.