Jaishankar to visit UK from November 11-15
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit the United Kingdom from November 11-15, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a telephonic conversation with his UK counterpart Rishi Sunak and discussed the early conclusion of a “mutually beneficial” Free Trade Agreement.
The prime minister said that they both reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen the bilateral partnership between the countries.
“Had a good conversation with PM @RishiSunak. We reaffirmed our commitment to further strengthen the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and work for early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement,” the Prime Minister said in a post on ‘X’.
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India and the UK have been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2022. The 13th round of FTA negotiations had taken place in December last year.
The FTA deal was also discussed at a meeting between Sunak and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar during the latter’s UK visit in November last year.
Earlier in January, Sunak has met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and expressed hope that the deal could be finalised soon.
The development comes two day after India signed a USD 100 billion Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries.
The EFTA is a trade organisation comprising four European countries – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Prime Minister Modi hailed the deal as “watershed moment” in the bilateral relations between India and the EFTA countries, adding that it is a “win-win” situation for all the signatories.
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