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March 29, 2024
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India, UK Keen On Sealing FTA By This Year End

Tawqeer Hussain

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Friday pushed for closing the negotiations for a free trade agreement by the end of the year and agreed on a new and expanded bilateral defence and security partnership.

Addressing the media jointly at New Delhi’s Hyderabad House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to give fresh momentum to overall ties and reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the Roadmap 2030.

“In the last few months, India has had an FTA With UAE and Australia. With the same speed and commitment, we will have FTA with the UK,” Prime Minister Modi said.

“We have decided to do our best to conclude the free trade agreement by the end of this year,” PM Modi added.

He said both sides emphasized a free, open, inclusive and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific while reiterating the need for respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries.

We reiterated our support for peaceful, stable and secure Afghanistan, he said, adding Afghan territory must not be used to spread terrorism in other countries.

On the Ukraine crisis, Modi emphasized dialogue and diplomacy to address the problem and called for an immediate ceasefire.

In his remarks, Johnson described the ties between India and Britain as “one of defining friendships of our times”.

“We have shared interests in keeping the Indo-Pacific region free, open & rule-based. Agree to combat threats on air, space & maritime. Taking steps for sustainable homegrown energy. This visit has deepened our relationship,” PM Johnson said.

Johnson said the UK is creating India specific open general export licensing to reduce delivery times for defence procurement.

We are telling our negotiators to get it done by Diwali in October, he said on the FTA.

The India-UK relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the India-UK virtual summit held between Modi and Johnson in May last year.

At the summit, the two sides adopted a 10-year-roadmap to expand ties in key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections among others.

(With PTI inputs)

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