UK Foreign Secretary Lammy begins 2-day visit to India on Wednesday

Written by Shubhajit Roy

New Delhi | Updated: July 24, 2024 02:56 AM IST

2 min read

With London holding the rotating presidency of the council, British foreign minister David Lammy is due to chair a vote on a UK/Sierra Leone-proposed draft resolution, which also calls for the protection of civilians. (File Photo)

Just over a fortnight after the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer swept the polls in the United Kingdom ending 14 years of Conservative Party-led government, the newly-appointed British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is coming to India on Wednesday on a day-long visit.

Arriving in New Delhi on Wednesday morning, Lammy will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and will head for the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Laos capital, Vientiane. Jaishankar is also attending the Laos meeting. This will be the first visit to India by a top official of the government led by Starmer, who had said that he looked forward to further deepening the “strong and respectful relationship” between both the countries.

A day after he led the Labour Party to a landslide election victory, Starmer had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they agreed to work towards an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK free trade agreement (FTA). The British PM, while discussing the FTA, had said he stood ready to conclude a deal “that worked for both sides”.

He had also welcomed Prime Minister Modi’s leadership on key global challenges, such as climate change and economic growth, according to the British government’s statement issued on July 6.

Downing Street had said the leaders agreed there was a wide range of areas across “defence and security, critical and emerging technology, and climate change” for the two countries to deepen cooperation.

Modi, on the other hand, had congratulated Starmer on his “remarkable victory” and had said he looked forward to “positive and constructive collaboration” to further strengthen bilateral ties.

In the last week of June — just about 10 days before the elections in the UK — Lammy had used his speech at the inaugural day of India Global Forum’s IGF London 2024 to send a key message to the Narendra Modi government, emphasising the Labour Party’s readiness to finalise an FTA with India.

Shubhajit Roy

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More

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