New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson adopted an ambitious Roadmap 2030 for elevating India-UK ties to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’.
The two countries also launched an ‘Enhanced Trade Partnership’ (ETP) to unleash the trade potential between the fifth and sixth largest economies of the world and by setting an ambitious target of more than doubling bilateral trade by 2030.
The two leaders held a virtual summit on Tuesday and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and G7. They reiterated commitment to climate action to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and agreed to closely engage in the run-up to CoP26 hosted by the UK later this year.
The two leaders discussed the COVID-19 situation and ongoing cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, including the successful partnership on vaccines.
A PMO release said that an ambitious ‘Roadmap 2030’ was adopted at the summit to elevate bilateral ties to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’. The roadmap will pave the way for a deeper and stronger engagement over the next ten years in the key areas of people to people contacts, trade and economy, defence and security, climate action and health.
It said the two countries agreed on a roadmap to negotiate a comprehensive and balanced FTA, including consideration of an interim trade agreement for delivering early gains.
“The two Prime Ministers launched an ‘Enhanced Trade Partnership’ (ETP) to unleash the trade potential between the 5th and 6th largest economies of the world and by setting an ambitious target of more than doubling bilateral trade by 2030. As part of the ETP, India and the UK agreed on a roadmap to negotiate a comprehensive and balanced FTA, including consideration of an Interim Trade Agreement for delivering early gains. The enhanced trade partnership between India and UK will generate several thousands of direct and indirect jobs in both the countries,” the release said.
It said that the UK is India’s second largest partner in research and innovation collaborations.
