London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reaffirmed his commitment to a “truly ambitious” free trade agreement (FTA) with India and indicated his plans to visit New Delhi for the G20 Summit in September.
Hosting a special reception to celebrate India Global Forum’s UK-India Week 2023 in the garden of 10 Downing Street in London, Sunak said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he agrees that there is a huge potential to step up bilateral trade ties.
The 43-year-old British Indian leader interacted with business leaders and celebrities, including boxing champion Mary Kom, musicians Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain, Bollywood stars Sonam Kapoor and Vivek Oberoi, on Wednesday evening as part of what he dubbed as a “big moment” in the bilateral calendar and the start of an Indian summer for the UK.
“Prime Minister (Narendra) Modiji and I agree there’s huge potential here. We’re making great progress together on the 2030 roadmap and we want to strike a truly ambitious trade deal that benefits both our nations, bringing tremendous opportunities to businesses and consumers, both in India and here at home,” said Sunak, who was joined at the garden party by wife Akshata Murty and mother-in-law Sudha Murty.
“It’s not just UK-India Week, but a whole Indian summer,” he said.
India Global Forum’s (IGF) fifth annual UK-India Week, which runs until Friday, brings together ministers, business leaders and policymakers to deliberate on the key sectors of focus within the bilateral relationship.
“We are all here, from such diverse backgrounds, experiences and journeys, yet what unites us is our passion and contribution to enhancing what I describe as the winning partnership between the UK and India,” said IGF founder Manoj Ladwa.
