Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Government of India; and what steps she is taking to further the relationship between the UK and India.

The Foreign Secretary is due to visit Delhi on 31 March, where she will meet the Minister of External Affairs and participate in the inaugural edition of the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum. She will discuss bilateral and international issues, building on our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the 2030 Roadmap for India-UK future relations.

The Foreign Secretary previously visited Delhi and Mumbai on 22-23 October 2021. During this visit, the Foreign Secretary held bilateral consultations with the Minister of External Affairs and the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. She also visited HMS Queen Elizabeth, part of the UK Carrier Strike Group, in Mumbai. Discussions focussed on technology and infrastructure cooperation with India, alongside forging stronger UK-India security and defence links.

The Foreign Secretary engages regularly with her counterpart, India's Minister for External Affairs. This reinforces ongoing Ministerial and official level cooperation between our two governments including on people-to-people links, trade, defence, climate and health.