British PM Rishi Sunak joins Ajit Doval-UK NSA meeting in London
1 min read . Updated: 05 Feb 2023, 01:26 PM IST
Premium- The ties between India and the UK are often described as a Living Bridge, a dynamic economic force of people, businesses, and ideas
In a special gesture, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak briefly joined a meeting in London where NSA Ajit Doval was also present.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is in London to boost bilateral ties.
Doval met his UK counterpart Tim Barrow and assured his government's full support to deepen bilateral strategic partnership in sectors like trade and defence.
Doval and Barrow met at the UK Cabinet Office. The Indian High Commission tweeted on Saturday, "A special gesture by PM @rishisunak to join for a while India-UK NSA dialogue between Sir Tim Barrow & Doval at @cabinetofficeuk".
"Deeply value PM's assurance of his Govts full support to deepen strategic partnership in trade, defence, S&T. Look forward to the visit of Sir Tim to India soon," it added.
Doval's trip to London follows his visit to the US where he met America's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday.
In September 2022, Tim Barrow was chosen to serve as the National Security Adviser of the UK.
Barrow was once the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's (FCDO) Political Director and Second Permanent Under-Secretary, according to the official website of the Government of the UK.
The ties between India and the UK are often described as a Living Bridge, a dynamic economic force of people, businesses, and ideas.
India and the United Kingdom (UK) share a comprehensive strategic partnership. The two nations have also concluded six rounds of negotiations for a trade deal.
Notably, India and UK began the negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement between the two nations in January 2022. The UK-India free trade agreement is well-advanced. Although trade at the moment is worth 29.6 billion pounds, India is only the 12th largest trading partner of the UK.
Sunak, the country's first leader of Indian descent had earlier conveyed his hope of finalising the trade agreement during a call with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
