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Britain and India must move beyond healthcare breakthroughs to ensure innovations benefit patients at scale, UK Health Minister James Frith has said. In an address to the annual 'Westminster Diwali' gathering organised by India Global Forum (IGF) in London this week, the minister in the Department of Health and Social Care highlighted progress over 100 days since the bilateral Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) was implemented in mid-July. He identified a gap between scientific discovery and real-world adoption as one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare systems across both countries. "The next great challenge in healthcare innovation is not simply discovery, but adoption," said Frith. "We know how to innovate. What we have too often struggled to do is to take what works and make it work everywhere. "India brings extraordinary strengths in digital innovation and delivery at population scale. Britain brings world-leading research, life sciences and the unique
Strategic experts forecast that the strength of the India-UK partnership will stay the course under incoming British prime minister Andy Burnham, who clinched the Labour Party leadership in the same week as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) entered into force. Burnham, 56, was elected unopposed on Friday and will take over from Keir Starmer at Downing Street on Monday after the formal choreography of the handover of power is completed. While much is expected to change, given the former mayor of Greater Manchester's pledge to do things differently, the one major constant in terms of foreign policy is expected on the India front. "Over this past year, we have valued close engagement with the Greater Manchester authorities, particularly Mr Andy Burnham, whose energy and warm support has done much to strengthen India-North-England ties," Vishakha Yaduvanshi, the Consul General of India in Manchester, told PTI. As the first head of India's new diplomatic mission in t
About 90-95 per cent of Indian professionals employed by Indian companies operating in the UK would be benefitted from the social security agreement between the two countries, a move that will reduce costs for firms and enhance the competitiveness of Indian service providers in the British market, an official said. The two countries on June 17 announced that the Agreement on Social Security or the Double Contribution Convention (DCC) and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will come into effect on July 15. The DCC will give a major boost to IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys. Professionals of Indian-origin contribute about USD 0.5 billion each year to the UK social security. Under the DCC, employees temporarily transferred by companies from India to the UK, or vice versa, will be exempt from making social security contributions in the host country for up to five years. It was a key demand of India. Around 75,000 Indian professionals are worki
Vikram Doraiswami wrapped his tenure as India's High Commissioner to the UK this week to head over to Beijing, where he will take up his new post as Ambassador to China. UK Foreign Office Minister for the Indo-Pacific Seema Malhotra hailed Doraiswami's role in taking the bilateral partnership to a "new level" during the course of his over three-year assignment in London. The British Indian minister referenced his "unflappable nature" and charm in overseeing the successful conclusion of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as one of the key highlights of the bilateral relationship last year. "You've taken the partnership between our countries to a new level, playing that central role in bringing the Free Trade Agreement to its conclusion and been part of making sure that the trade agreement dealt with every challenge in its way," said Malhotra, at a farewell gathering in London recently. "Your work has helped unlock new investment through the UK-India Infrastructure Financing ...
The India-UK free trade agreement, signed in July last year, is likely to come into force from the second week of May, according to an official. India and the UK, on July 24, 2025, signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), under which 99 per cent of Indian exports will enter the British market at zero duty, while tariffs on British products, such as cars and whisky, will be reduced in India. "We are expecting the pact to be implemented from the second week of May," the official said. The two countries have also signed the Double Contributions Convention (DCC) pact to ensure temporary workers would not have to duplicate social levies in either country. The official said that both pacts are likely to be implemented in parallel. CETA aims to double the USD 56 billion trade between the two economies by 2030. While India has opened its market to various consumer goods, including chocolates, biscuits, and cosmetics, it will gain greater access to export products, su
India and the UK are making a "genuine" effort to see if the bilateral free trade agreement can be operationalised in April this year, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday. India and the UK, on July 24, 2025, signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) under which 99 per cent of Indian exports will enter the British market at zero duty, while tariffs on British products such as cars and whisky will be reduced in India. The pact needs approval from the UK parliament before it is implemented. In India, the Union Cabinet approves such agreements. After it gets approved by the British parliament, it will be implemented on a mutually agreed date. "I think both sides are working to operationalize it as fast as possible. As some stories have come in the news that it may get operationalized in April, we are making an effort towards that. But I don't know whether that is the date or it will happen beyond that. But we are trying. Our genuine effort on both sides
A joint military exercise of Indian and British troops concluded on Sunday, with the drill this time focusing on peace-enforcement operations in a counter-terrorism environment, officials said. This was the eighth edition of the biennial Army exercise 'Ajeya Warrior'. "The A (AMBOOR) Company 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles of the British Army, and the 21st Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army have been undertaking complex training at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan since the start of the exercise on November 17," the British High Commission said in a statement here. Continuing the trend of increasing complexity and interoperability, the exercise this time focused on conducting peace-enforcing operations in a counter-terrorism environment as mandated under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, it said. This involved executing simulated operations in a multi-domain urban and semi-urban environment. During the exercise, the two armies shared standard operating procedure