UK defence minister under fire for turning down meeting with Sitharaman: report

Britain's Defence Minister Gavin Williamson is reportedly under fire from within the UK Cabinet for turning down a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, according to a media report which she dismissed as a "baseless story".

The meeting was requested over a month ago by Indian officials, and at least two British ministers including foreign secretary Boris Johnson reportedly sought to convince Williamson of the importance of finding time in the diary for Sitharaman.

Williamson, UK Secretary of State for defence, declined to meet Sitharaman's three-day window of bilateral talks on security cooperation and defence procurement between June 20 and 22, according to The Sunday Times.

Sitharaman took to Twitter to express her disappointment over the "baseless story".

"Disappointed, Sunday Times (UK). Baseless story, to say the least. The UK & India have a robust relationship. A mutually convenient date is being worked out for meeting & I look forward to it," she said.

The newspaper quoted a UK government source as saying that "People are spitting blood about this."