India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra paid an official visit to the United Kingdom from May 16-17, for the 16th round of Foreign Office Consultations with UK's Permanent Under-Secretary, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Sir Philip Barton.
Both Foreign Secretary and UK Permanent Under-Secretary undertook a detailed review of the India-UK Roadmap 2030, which began in 2021 when the both the nations agreed to work on "amibitious plans for the next decade of the bilateral relationship".
During the visit, Kwatra also held meetings with MOS for Defence Procurement James Cartlidge, MOS Foreign Office Lord Tariq Ahmad, UK Home Office Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft, NSA Sir Tim Barrow, Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the UK Prime Minister Professor John Bew, and Chief Trade Negotiator of the UK Crawford Falconer, the Ministry of External Affairs said in its press release.
Besides this, they also discussed the "entire gamut of bilateral relations and regional and global issues of mutual interest."
Besides reflecting on the progress made on 2030 roadmap since the last review, which was held in January 2023, Kwatra and Barton also discussed the areas where both the nations have worked together in order to handle the biggest challenges in the world.
They also underscored their interest to raise the level of ambition and further agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation across various dimensions, including trade, economics, defence and security, science and technology, energy, people-to-people ties and mobility, health, as well as climate change.
"This included collaborating on the world’s first malaria vaccine, working closely on India’s successful G20 Presidency and increasing opportunities for students and entrepreneurs under the Migration and Mobility Partnership," UK's foreign, Commonwealth and Development office stated in its press release.
"India and the United Kingdom share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which has been strengthened across all domains through regular high-level political exchanges and meetings of bilateral institutional mechanisms," the MEA said in its statement.
Kwatra also held a meeting with Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, where they discussed the Free Trade Agreement, migration, and Commonwealth.
Following their meeting, Lord Ahmad said: "We are delighted to host Indian Foreign Secretary Kwatra in London to underline the UK’s commitment to deepening cooperation with India. I look forward to our relationship going from strength to strength, working together on trade, defence, climate, and health."
The next round of "Foreign Office Consultations" have been agreed to be held in 2025 in New Delhi.