UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in New Delhi to reset ties, FTA talks

London: David Lammy will push for a reset of the bilateral partnership and reinforce the Labour Party government’s commitment to secure a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for the benefit of both economies during his first visit to India as UK Foreign Secretary on Wednesday.

According to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), economic, domestic and global security will be at the heart of the visit during which the Cabinet minister is scheduled to hold meetings with his counterpart, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and other ministers and business leaders.

"I am travelling to India in my first month as Foreign Secretary because resetting our relationship with the Global South is a key part of how this government will reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home,” Lammy said in a pre-visit statement.

Reiterating his election campaign message from earlier this month, the Cabinet minister described India as an emerging superpower of the 21st century, the largest country in the world with 1.4 billion people and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

“Our Free Trade Agreement negotiations is the floor not the ceiling of our ambitions to unlock our shared potential and deliver growth, from Bengaluru to Birmingham. We have shared interests on the green transition, new technologies, economic security and global security,” he added.

The India-UK FTA negotiations opened in January 2022, under the then Conservative Party government, with a target to significantly boost the GBP 38.1 billion a year bilateral trading partnership. The talks have since remained stalled in the fourteenth round of negotiations amid general elections in both countries, with Lammy having previously expressed his determination to “finally get our free trade deal done and move on”.

The FCDO said India is seen as an "indispensable partner" for accelerated action on the climate crisis, with the ministerial visit aimed at driving forward the clean energy transition agenda and creating opportunities for British and Indian businesses. During his talks in Delhi, Lammy is set to discuss partnering on Indian-led global initiatives to build clean power access and climate resilience in the Global South and small island states.

During the brief visit, the minister is also due to visit a technology company to interact with business leaders to highlight how India and the UK are working together on shared ambitions such as “cutting-edge science to encourage innovation, boost trade, and improve the livelihoods of working people in both countries”.

“The Foreign Secretary will underscore the importance of the Living Bridge between the UK and India. It represents the 1.7 million people with Indian heritage that have made their home in the UK and make an exceptional contribution to British life,” an FCDO statement said.

“He will reiterate the extraordinary contribution of British Indians, saying that they enrich the UK’s social and economic landscape and are the epitome of modern Britain,” it said, adding that Lammy wants to harness this force and unlock the potential of a "new" UK-India partnership to deliver prosperity “not just for the people of India and the UK but for the rest of the world”.

From New Delhi, Lammy will travel to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Laos where he is expected to unveil new cooperation on climate and health.