UK Foreign Secretary Lammy to meet PM Modi; to discuss bilateral economic and migration partnership

New Delhi [India], June 7 : UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his second visit to India to discuss ongoing economic and migration partnership.

British High Commission said talks are on between the UK and the Indian Government to deepen and diversify the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries to deliver for working people in the UK.

The Foreign Secretary will meet with Prime Minister Modi on his second visit to India to discuss the ongoing economic and migration partnership. Bolstering economic and migration ties and delivering further growth opportunities for British businesses are set to be at the top of the UK Foreign Secretary's visit to India today, the High Commission said.

The visit follows the historic Free Trade Agreement agreed between the two countries and will deliver on this government's commitment to boost jobs and prosperity. The new deal with India is expected to increase bilateral trade by over £25 billion every year, UK GDP by £4.8 billion, and wages by £2.2 billion each year in the long run, putting money back in the pockets of working people.

The Foreign Secretary will also welcome progress in our migration partnership, including ongoing work on safeguarding citizens and securing borders in both countries. Addressing migration remains a top priority for the government - the Foreign Secretary is focused on working internationally with global partners to secure the UK's borders at home, High commission said.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said, "India was one of my first visits as Foreign Secretary, and since then has been a key partner in the delivery of our Plan for Change. Our relationship has gone from strength to strength - securing our future technologies, adding over £25bn in trade every year between our countries and deepening the strong links between our cultures and people."

"Signing a free trade agreement is just the start of our ambitions - we're building a modern partnership with India for a new global era. We want to go even further to foster an even closer relationship and cooperate when it comes to delivering growth, fostering innovative technology, tackling the climate crisis, delivering our migration priorities, and providing greater security for our people," he added.

The Foreign Secretary will also meet with leading figures in Indian business to discuss how we can unlock even greater investment by Indian business in the UK. "Our investment relationship supports over 600,000 jobs across both countries, with over 950 Indian-owned companies in the UK and over 650 UK companies in India. In 2023-24, India was the UK's second-largest source of investments in terms of a number of projects for the fifth consecutive year," the release mentioned.

Talks will also take stock of progress, following a commitment by the UK and Indian Prime Ministers to take forward an ambitious UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The trade deal is a key example of the progress being made since the last meeting between the Foreign Secretary and his Indian counterpart. It follows the signing of the UK-India Programme of Cultural Cooperation Agreement in May and £400m of trade and investment wins, boosting the British and the Indian economy at the Economic and Financial Dialogue in April, the British High Commission said.

The Foreign Secretary Lammy is also expected to address the recent escalation in tensions following the Pahalgam terrorist attack and how the welcomed sustained period of peace can be best supported in the interests of stability in the region.

The visit comes as some of India's top business leaders endorsed the trade deal, which will increase opportunities for trade and investment between the UK and India. It also comes ahead of the launch of the UK's modern Industrial Strategy, which will make it quicker, easier and cheaper to do business in the UK, it added.

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