London [UK], July 22 (ANI): India-UK relations are poised to reach new heights during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit, with significant progress expected in trade, technology, and defence, India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami said on Tuesday.
PM Modi will arrive in the UK on Wednesday for an official visit, during which he will hold talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and call on King Charles III. The visit will allow the two leaders to review the full spectrum of bilateral ties and discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest.
“We believe the India-UK relationship will be significantly boosted by the PM’s upcoming visit. Even though it is a short visit, we think the opportunity is considerable for the relationship to be moved to the next level. The PM is visiting here after almost four years,” Doraiswami told ANI.
He added that the focus will be on identifying new areas of collaboration, particularly in trade, technology, and defence, and on building consensus on the future direction of ties. “The discussions between the two PMs should generate some consensus around where the two governments want to take the relationship. We think the future-oriented relationship is where the relationship is going to come out,” he said.
The High Commissioner noted that preparations for the visit are in full swing despite the short notice. “My colleagues and I have been extremely busy trying to put everything together. There is great enthusiasm not only in my team but also among our colleagues back in India and here among our British partners to make sure that this is a substantive, focused visit,” he said.
The India-UK partnership was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2021 and has since seen regular high-level exchanges. Both sides have expressed commitment to taking the relationship to even greater heights.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, speaking at a press briefing in New Delhi earlier in the day, said business, technology, research, education, innovation, and the knowledge economy have emerged as key pillars of the bilateral relationship.
He highlighted the Technology Security Initiative, signed last year, as an example of cooperation in critical and emerging technologies. Misri also noted that the University of Southampton opened a campus in Gurugram last week, the first foreign university to do so under India’s New Education Policy.
India-UK trade reached $55 billion in 2023–24, with the UK ranking as the sixth-largest investor in India, with $36 billion in cumulative investment. India, in turn, is a major investor in the UK, with nearly $20 billion in cumulative FDI.
“There are close to a thousand Indian companies in the UK that provide employment to nearly 100,000 people and have a cumulative revenue of over $91 billion,” Misri said. He also pointed to deepening defence ties, including regular military exercises, exchange of instructors at military academies, and collaboration on developing electric propulsion technology.
(ANI)
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