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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled for a diplomatic tour to the United Kingdom (UK) and Maldives next week that is aimed at enhancing economic and security cooperation between the countries through trade agreements and political engagements.

The PM will visit the UK on July 23-24 to sign the significant India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) which was finalised on May 6 this year and announced by PM Modi and UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It took almost three years of rigorous negotiations for the FTA to emerge successfully. 

The agreement, which reduces tariffs on various products including British whiskey and cars, will impact almost 99 per cent of Indian exports to the UK. With an aim to bolster market access and create a conducive trading environment for the two countries, the agreement is expected to significantly expand bilateral ties between India and the UK, while also strengthening security connections.

 

Also Read: Goyal in London to discuss ongoing FTA, ways to boost trade

As India remains engaged in discussions with various other countries for economic partnerships, including the US, Australia, and the EU bloc, it is consciously expanding its trade relations across the world to foster not only economic, but also cultural and political collaborations.

However, it is keeping its interests first, as reiterated by the country’s commerce and industry minister, Piyush Goyal, who said at the Assocham First Managing Committee Meeting FY2025-26 on Saturday that “at no point of time will the Narendra Modi government ever allow national interest to be compromised”.

Following his visit to the UK, the Prime Minister will head to the Maldives on July 25-26, reported government officials, his first since June 2019 when relations between the two countries turned strained.

 

PM Modi will serve as the Chief Guest at Maldives’ 60th National Day celebrations, marking a pivotal point in India’s efforts at fostering goodwill and mutual cooperation with other nations, especially its neighbours.

It is anticipated that the PM will iron out rough edges in the diplomatic ties between India and the Maldives, address previous concerns and reset the two countries’ partnership, especially in a gesture that reciprocates the Maldives’ President Muizzu’s visit to India in October, 2024.