Jaishankar hopes 2 sides will find landing point

London External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that India and the UK are currently focusing on a free trade agreement and hoped that the two sides will find a ‘landing point’ which will work for both of them. Jaishankar, who is here on a five-day official visit to the UK with an aim to review various aspects of bilateral ties and give ‘new impetus to the friendly ties’, also said that the agenda 2030 put greater emphasis on connectivity on trade on working together when it comes to defence and security, on health and all climate change. “We are focusing on what is officially called an enhanced trade partnership. In common sense, it’s called FTA (a free trade agreement) and that is today very much the focus of what the Indian and British systems are negotiating and where we hope that we will find a landing point which will work for both of us,” Jaishankar said.

The India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was launched in 2021 along with the India-UK Roadmap 2030 which seeks to expand ties in a range of areas. India and the UK have been negotiating a free trade agreement since January last year with a target to significantly enhance the estimated GBP 36-billion bilateral trading partnership.