Page 7 - India Uk

UK strengthens India defence ties with new initiative, dedicated MoD office

India-UK strategic partnership gets a fillip with the formal launch of 'Defence Partnership-India', the signing of agreements at Aero India 2025, and a dedicated programme office within the UK's MoD

Indian restaurants among targets in UK crackdown on illegal migrants

Indian restaurants, nail bars, convenience stores, and car washes were among the targets of what the Home Office on Monday described as a UK-wide blitz on illegal working in the country. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said her department's Immigration Enforcement teams had a record-breaking January as they descended on 828 premises -- a 48 per cent rise compared to the previous January, with arrests surging to 609, and marking a 73 per cent increase from the previous year. The Home Office said that while its teams respond to illegal working intelligence in all sectors, a significant proportion of last month's activity took place at restaurants, takeaways and cafes as well as in the food, drink and tobacco industry. A visit to one Indian restaurant in Humberside, northern England, alone led to seven arrests and four detentions, it noted. The immigration rules must be respected and enforced. For far too long, employers have been able to take on and exploit illegal migrants and too many

India, UK to resume talks on proposed trade agreement from Feb 24: Official

India and the UK are expected to resume the talks for the proposed free trade agreement from February 24, an official said. The UK trade minister is likely to visit the national capital soon, the official said. The talks for the proposed FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles. The agreement is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investments. In such pacts, two countries either eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties of maximum goods traded between them. They also ease norms for promoting trade in services and bilateral investments. The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty. On the other hand, the UK is seeking a significant cut in import duties on goods such as scotch whiskey, electric vehicles, lamb meat, chocolates and certain confectionar

India, UK to enhance bilateral cooperation in healthcare, life sciences

India and the UK have agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of healthcare and life sciences as strategic partners with strong links in the area, with a specific aim of strengthening collaboration in the health technology and innovation sectors. The Health and Life Sciences Partnership' signed by UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting in London on Thursday will cover a broad range of areas, including digitisation and innovation across the country's state-funded National Health Service (NHS). This will strengthen the UK's partnership of cooperation with India on healthcare innovation and health security, said the UK's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda at the Delhi end, will also cover joint research, information sharing and cooperation through multilateral fora in areas such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The Health and Life Sciences agreement ...

India, UK renew five-year partnership to strengthen health cooperation

The MoU focuses on joint efforts to address global health challenges, including antimicrobial resistance, non-communicable diseases, digital health innovations, and pharmaceutical advancements

Richest 10% got over half of what UK took from India during its rule: Study

The UK extracted USD 64.82 trillion from India over a century of colonialism between 1765 and 1900 and USD 33.8 trillion of this went to the richest 10 per cent -- enough money to carpet London in notes of 50 British pound almost four times over. This forms part of rights group Oxfam International's latest flagship global inequity report released every year on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The report, titled 'Takers, not Makers' and released here on Monday hours before the start of the annual meeting of the rich and powerful across the globe, cited several studies and research papers to claim that the modern multinational corporation is a creation of colonialism only. "Legacies of inequality and pathologies of plunder, pioneered during the time of historical colonialism, continue to shape modern lives. This has created a deeply unequal world, a world torn apart by division based on racism, a world that continues to systematically extract wealth from the

PM Modi speaks to King Charles, reaffirms India-UK strategic partnership

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to UK's King Charles and reaffirmed India's commitment to strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership. During their discussion, they reflected on the historic relationship and emphasized their shared goal of fostering deeper collaboration in various areas. They reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations which has been a cornerstone of bilateral relations, according to an official statement. The conversation also touched upon the Commonwealth of Nations, with both leaders exchanging views on the outcomes of the recently concluded Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in Samoa. Both countries are key members of the Commonwealth and the dialogue highlighted their dedication to advancing the organization's goals. Climate action and sustainability emerged as pivotal topics during the exchange. Prime Minister Modi praised King Charles III for his ..

UK PM Starmer hosts group of Indian investors, CEOs at Downing Street

The visit follows Starmer's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 where they committed to take forward an ambitious UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

Business activity between India, UK flourishes in 2024, shows HSBC data

Business activity between the UK and India has flourished in 2024 as the value of payments received by clients in Britain from India rose by 121 per cent, according to the latest data released by HSBC UK. The multinational bank, which highlighted the figures based on its two-way support for businesses within the India-UK corridor this week, said its data on payments and client referrals showed year-on-year growth. In the nine months to October 2024, the value of payments made by HSBC UK business clients to India reportedly rose by 32 per cent and the bank received 36 per cent more new business client referrals from HSBC India year-on-year. Our data shows that business between the UK and India is not only strong, it's getting even stronger, and the opportunities for expanding businesses in India are huge, said Cora McLaren, Head of International Subsidiary Banking at HSBC UK. India's population is not only a vast number of potential customers, within it there is a growing middle cla

UK-India business boosted by prospect of free trade agreement, says HSBC

In the nine months to October, HSBC's UK unit received 36 per cent more business client referrals from its arm in India

Beyond the missed deadlines, India-UK FTA talks at a tricky turning point

India and the UK are set to relaunch free trade agreement talks next month under Keir Starmer's Labour Party, facing critical challenges including unresolved issues and shifting political priorities

India a very important business partner: UK Warwick Group Dean Robin Clark

Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav visited the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), at Warwick University in London, UK and interacted with Professor Robin Clark

FTA an ongoing process, UK govt ready to restart negotiations: Indian envoy

Following a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Brazil, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the relaunch of FTA talks in 2025

EAM Jaishankar meets counterparts from UK, France and Ukraine in Rome

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met his counterparts from several countries, including the UK, France and Ukraine, here and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in multiple sectors as well as regional and international developments. Jaishankar, who arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit, started the day by meeting British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Rome. "Appreciate the steady momentum in India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, as well as ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia," he said in a post on X. He also met France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues. "Nice to meet FM @jnbarrot of France in Rome today. A useful stock taking of our bilateral partnership. Also discussed Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and global issues," the minister said in another post on X. Jaishankar also held a useful exchange with Foreign

India-UK FTA talks likely to restart in January amid complex issues

Issues like labour, environment remain tricky as talks may begin in Jan

India-UK FTA talks: Both sides seek to bridge gaps to close deal swiftly

India and the UK would seek to bridge the differences for expeditious conclusion of the proposed free trade agreement as Britain has announced resuming the negotiations early next year, an official statement said on Wednesday. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that trade talks with India will relaunch in the new year, following his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit in Brazil. Starmer and Modi met on the sidelines of the summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, after which Downing Street said the UK will seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a trade agreement. The India-UK talks for the proposed FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles. "We welcome the announcement by the UK to relaunch the India-UK free trade talks in the new year," the commerce ministry said. Noting the importance for securing a balanced, mutually beneficial and forward .

UK ex-PM Johnson showers praise on 'changemaker' PM Modi in new memoir

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson is all praise for change-maker Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a new memoir that reflects upon his eventful political career and recalls a curious astral energy that he felt on his very first meeting with the Indian leader. 'Unleashed', which hit the shelves in the UK this week, devotes a whole chapter to Britain's relationship with India as a relationship as good as it has ever been. Repeatedly stressing the strong India-UK friendship in the context of the Indo-Pacific, the former prime minister credits himself for setting the course for a proper free-trade deal with India thanks to finding "exactly the partner and friend" needed with Modi. For some reason, we went down to stand in the dark in the plaza by Tower Bridge, in front of a crowd of his supporters, shares Johnson in the chapter entitled Britain and India', referencing his first meeting with Modi during a visit to his City Hall office by the river Thames when he was Mayor of ...

India backs Rules of Origin in auto sector under India, UK trade pact

India is insisting on strict adherence to the Rules of Origin' during free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the UK in the automobile sector, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal on Tuesday said. He said that the 'Rules of Origin' have to be such that they do not impact the Indian automobile sector negatively. "FTA with the UK is in the pipeline...we are negotiating. We are also very keen to see that not only do we open up the automobile market, but we also see that we do not unduly lose the level playing field vis-a-vis the UK. "And we looked at their Rules of Origin very, very closely. We negotiated with them (the UK), and we told them that Rules of Origin have to be such that they do not impact negatively our automobile sector market," Barthwal said here while addressing leaders of the auto industry. The 'Rules of Origin' provision prescribes minimal processing that should happen in the FTA country, the UK in this case, so that the final manufactured product may be called ...

India-UK FTA within finger-touching distance, says NITI Aayog CEO

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) being negotiated between India and the UK is in the final stages with both sides within finger-touching distance to clinch an agreement, NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam said here on Wednesday. The FTA, negotiations for which were launched in January 2022 before being stalled due to general elections in both countries, is aimed at significantly enhancing the estimated GBP 38.1 billion a year bilateral trading partnership. During the signing ceremony for the new UK-India Infrastructure Financing Bridge (UKIIFB) agreement, both sides were keen to stress that the bilateral partnership is not being held hostage to the FTA even as the newly elected governments on both sides remain committed to it. "I think this is a deal that is in the last slab. The two sides I would say are not even at hand-shaking distance, the fingers are touching. It's just a question of that extra five inches and you can grab the deal, Subrahmanyam said while addressing a panel ...

India, UK explore green technology for recycling critical minerals

This initiative is designed to enhance the sustainability of critical mineral supply chains from exploration, mining, smelting, processing, and recycling