Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday departed for the UK on the primary leg of his two-nation go to, which can even take him to the Maldives later this week. The go to to the UK from July 23-24 is geared toward boosting bilateral ties, with the signing of the much-awaited India-UK Free Commerce Settlement (FTA) as a key spotlight.
The India-UK FTA, has been underneath negotiation for 3 years. This settlement is predicted to get rid of tariffs on 99% of Indian exports to the UK and cut back tariffs on 90% of British merchandise.
The FTA is projected to double bilateral commerce by 2030, from the present USD 60 billion mark. It can additionally make it simpler for British corporations to export merchandise like whisky and vehicles to India.
VIDEO | Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) emplanes for London, United Kingdom.
The Prime Minister can be on a two-day go to to the UK after which go to the Maldives primarily to grace the island nation’s Independence Day celebrations as “visitor of honour”.… pic.twitter.com/a67t9ziTv7
— Press Belief of India (@PTI_News) July 23, 2025
In line with the MEA, PM Modi will maintain wide-ranging discussions along with his UK counterpart, Keir Starmer, on the complete gamut of India-UK bilateral relations. They can even change views on problems with regional and world significance.Over time, the India-UK historic ties, have reworked into a strong, multi-faceted, mutually useful relationship.
The connection was elevated to a Complete Strategic Partnership in 2021. New Delhi and London have seen sustained and frequent high-level political engagements. Prime Minister Modi has met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer twice over the previous 12 months. They met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil in November 2024 and once more in the course of the G7 Summit in June 2025. Each leaders additionally had a number of telephonic conversations over the interval.
A major marker of the energy of ties is the 5 Ministerial degree Institutional Mechanisms in strategic, financial system & finance, commerce, vitality, science and know-how, between the 2 nations. Different just lately held dialogues embrace International Workplace Session, Defence Session Group, 2+2 International and Defence Dialogue.On the financial entrance, bilateral commerce has surpassed a document USD 55 billion in 2024, marking a rise of roughly 10 per cent over 2023.
The conclusion of India-UK FTA introduced on Might 6, 2025 by each Prime Ministers, has been a significant milestone in bilateral ties.The 2 nations have seen sustained and high-level cooperation throughout a number of fronts. PM Modi will maintain wide-ranging talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, masking commerce, protection, local weather, innovation, and schooling. He can even meet King Charles III.India and the UK will focus on strengthening their protection and safety ties, together with common navy exchanges and collaboration on crucial applied sciences like synthetic intelligence and semiconductors.
PM Modi is more likely to elevate the problem of Khalistani extremists within the UK, who’ve been a priority for India. The UK authorities has assured India that it’s going to take essential actions to handle this concern. International Secretary Vikram Misri stated that the problem of Khalistani extremists and associated teams is a matter of concern for India, and it has been dropped at the eye of companions in the UK.
Discussions have additionally taken place between India and the UK concerning the extradition of fugitives to India, Misri stated.International Secretary Misri stated, “The difficulty of the presence of Khalistani extremists, our bodies shut to those individuals, is one thing that we’ve got dropped at the eye of our companions within the UK. We are going to proceed to take action. It is a matter of concern not solely to us however must be a matter of concern to our companions as nicely as a result of this impacts social cohesion and social order in these different nations as nicely.”
Answering a media question on the problem of fugitives within the UK, Misri stated that there’s a authorized course of to such requests concerning fugitives associated to Indian legislation and India is working “very carefully” with the UK on this concern.
“There have been a number of questions fugitives associated to Indian legislation and Indian justice, within the UK. These have been a matter of dialogue between either side and we’ve got continued to make the case for these fugitives to be rendered to India. There’s a authorized course of that such requests , points undergo within the different nation, and we proceed to observe very carefully with our companions within the UK on these issues,” he stated.
The 2 nations can even evaluate progress in areas like local weather motion, healthcare, schooling, and people-to-people connections.With an Indian diaspora that types about 2.7 per cent of the entire inhabitants of UK, it acts because the dwelling bridge which types a key pillar of development and growth of India -UK relations by way of their beneficial contribution to the British society and financial system in addition to selling bilateral cultural and financial cooperation and bonds of friendship between peoples of our two nations.After the UK go to, PM Modi will journey to the Maldives from July 25-26.