New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake back-to-back official visits to the United Kingdom and the Maldives this week, with a free trade agreement (FTA) with London and economic support for Male high on the agenda, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said on Monday (July 22).

Modi is scheduled to travel to the UK on July 23 for a brief visit that will include bilateral talks with his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, and a meeting with King Charles III. This will be his fourth visit to the UK since taking office.

At a special media briefing, Misri recalled that negotiations for the long-pending FTA were concluded during a phone conversation between the two prime ministers on May 6. While legal and technical formalities are still being finalised, he indicated that the number of tariff line exclusions in the final deal is unlikely to be significant.

He declined to give a timeline for the signing of the agreement but said both sides remained in close contact.

“There is the obvious legal scrubbing, et cetera, that any such agreement needs to go through. We are continuing to work on those, and last-minute work is continuing. Let me just say at this stage that we will update you on the final details at the appropriate time,” he said.

India-UK bilateral trade reached $55 billion in 2023–24, with the UK ranked as India’s sixth-largest investor. Indian companies in the UK employ nearly 100,000 people and generate a cumulative revenue of over $91 billion.

Among other highlights of the relationship, Misri cited the Technology Security Initiative signed last year, growing cooperation in critical technologies, and the opening of the University of Southampton’s campus in Goa, the first by a foreign university under India’s new education policy.

Misri also said India would raise concerns with UK counterparts on the presence of Khalistani extremists and unresolved extradition cases. “This is a matter of concern not only to us, but it should be a matter of concern to our partners as well, because this impacts social cohesion and social order in these other countries as well,” he said.

Following the UK visit, Modi will travel to the Maldives on July 25-26 for a state visit at the invitation of President Mohamed Muizzu. He will be the guest of honour at the island nation’s Independence Day celebrations on July 26, which this year coincides with 60 years of diplomatic ties.

Misri acknowledged the “stressful financial environment” in the Maldives and said Indian assistance had been instrumental in helping the country avoid a potential crisis.

The Maldives is currently facing an economic crunch, with its external debt servicing obligations set to rise from $688 million this year to $1.1 billion by 2026.

“Our recent assistance has led to accretion in the foreign exchange position of the Maldives, and it is this accretion, as a matter of fact, that has been cited by international financial organisations, including the IMF, as a positive factor that has helped the Maldives stave off outcomes that could be difficult for it,” he said.

India has extended a $400 million currency swap facility, which is now nearly fully drawn, and a separate Rs 30 billion swap line is also being utilised. The State Bank of India continues to resubscribe to Maldives treasury bills, and the two countries are in talks to expand cooperation in areas like renewable energy and fisheries.

Further, India and the Maldives are now in discussions to negotiate an FTA and an investment treaty, Misri revealed.

He added that Modi’s visit will include bilateral meetings with Muizzu, the inauguration of several infrastructure projects and announcements of new initiatives under the development partnership.

“In so far as expanding the development partnership with the Maldives is concerned, as I said, there are a number of initiatives that are being looked at and during the visit, please stay tuned, there are likely to be further announcements related to the development partnership itself,” he said.

India continues to provide capacity-building assistance to the Maldives in areas such as exclusive economic zone surveillance, maritime domain awareness and defence training. The ongoing Greater Male Connectivity Project, supported through Indian grants and loans, remains a flagship initiative.

Misri rejected suggestions of a downturn in ties with Male under Muizzu, who had won the presidency on an ‘India Out’ platform.

“There will always be events that will impact or try to intrude on the relationship. But I think this is testimony to the kind of attention that has been paid to the relationship and including attention at the highest levels that has been paid to the relationship,” he said.

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