At G7 sidelines, PM Modi, UK's Starmer discuss ways to boost bilateral ties

The two leaders, who met on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France, also discussed regional and global developments, including the situation in West Asia and the conflict in Ukraine

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met his British counterpart Keir Starmer and discussed ways to further deepen India-UK ties in areas such as trade, technology, innovation, defence, and clean energy.

The two leaders, who met on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Evian-les-Bains in eastern France, also discussed regional and global developments, including the situation in West Asia and the conflict in Ukraine.

In a post on X, Modi described the meeting as "wonderful" and said the past year had been "outstanding" for India-UK relations.

"The trade deal has opened many avenues of economic cooperation. Today's talks focused on how to add even more momentum to India-UK ties," he said.

 

Modi said the two leaders discussed ways to work closely in areas such as innovation, artificial intelligence, skill development and sports, as well as measures to boost investment linkages for the benefit of the people of both countries.

"India-UK ties continue to gain momentum across trade, technology, innovation, defence, clean energy and education," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X.

"The leaders also discussed the trade deal, which opens several opportunities for growth and prosperity in both countries. Both leaders looked forward to further deepening the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," Jaiswal added.

According to a statement by the MEA, the two leaders reviewed the strong momentum in bilateral ties since their reciprocal visits last year and welcomed progress across all pillars of the India-UK Vision 2035 roadmap, including trade and economic growth, defence and security, climate action and green energy, and technology and innovation.

The leaders also looked forward to the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and expressed satisfaction with the growing education partnership.

They noted recent progress on plans by the University of Liverpool to establish a campus in Bengaluru and by the University of York and the University of Bristol to set up campuses in Mumbai, the statement said.

In the meeting, Modi thanked Starmer for the UK's strong participation in the AI Impact Summit held in New Delhi earlier this year and welcomed progress under the Technology Security Initiative, including the recent launch of the India-UK Critical Minerals Global Supply Chain Observatory.

The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the situation in West Asia and the conflict in Ukraine, the statement said.