India expands U.Ok. footprint as £41 billion partnership boosts progress

British Overseas Secretary David Lammy (L) meets with the Indian Exterior Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar throughout a bilateral assembly at Chevening Home on March 5, 2025 in Sevenoaks, England. They are going to be holding bilateral talks on the U.Ok.-India Complete Strategic Partnership.
| Photograph Credit score: Getty Photos

The India-U.Ok. partnership is about to strengthen considerably as Exterior Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visits the UK to strengthen the rising £41 billion buying and selling relationship between the 2 nations.

A serious spotlight of this go to is the announcement of two new Indian consulates in Belfast and Manchester, a transfer aimed toward fostering regional financial ties and enhancing investments.

The U.Ok. has additionally welcomed over £100 million in new Indian funding offers, anticipated to create jobs, strengthen financial progress, and enhance monetary prospects for working people.

Forward of the consulates’ inauguration, Dr. Jaishankar met Overseas Secretary David Lammy at Chevening Home to advance the U.Ok.-India Complete Strategic Partnership.

Their discussions targeted on financial progress, technological innovation, and tackling world challenges equivalent to local weather change. In addition they addressed urgent geopolitical considerations, together with Russia’s conflict in Ukraine and the Center East state of affairs.

Overseas Secretary David Lammy emphasised the significance of India as a key associate, stating, “One in every of my first visits as Overseas Secretary was to India as a result of deepening our partnership for our shared progress and safety is a key a part of this Authorities’s Plan for Change.”

He additional stated, “Dr. Jaishankar and I are supercharging our £41 billion buying and selling relationship with India, after commerce talks had been relaunched in Delhi. It’s the flooring, not the ceiling of our ambitions that can profit each our economies. The opening of recent Indian consulates in Belfast and Manchester demonstrates the rising hyperlinks between our peoples and the way we’re working collectively to ship progress not solely in London, however proper throughout the U.Ok. This enlargement of India’s diplomatic presence will additional enhance our buying and selling relationship and assist the valued Indian neighborhood within the U.Ok.,” he added.

The discussions additionally coated the Know-how Safety Initiative, first launched throughout Mr. Lammy’s go to to Delhi in July 2024. This initiative goals to strengthen cooperation in rising sectors equivalent to Synthetic Intelligence, telecoms, and demanding minerals. Nearer ties in these sectors are anticipated to result in developments in healthcare, resilient provide chains, elevated funding, and new job alternatives.