British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday began a two-day visit to India to galvanise negotiations for an ambitious Free Trade Agreement and reset the overall bilateral partnership in crucial areas such as clean energy, new technologies and security.As he embarked on the high-profile trip, Lammy described the negotiations for the trade deal as the floor and not the ceiling of the ambitions to unlock shared potential and deliver growth.

The British Foreign Secretary’s visit to New Delhi is the first high-level engagement between India and the UK after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Government came to power on July 5.”

India is the emerging superpower of the 21st century, the largest country in the world with 1.4 billion people and one of the fastest growing economies in the world,” Lammy said.

“Our Free Trade Agreement negotiations is the floor not the ceiling of our ambitions to unlock our shared potential and deliver growth, from Bengaluru to Birmingham,” he said.

A British Government readout said, Lammy will push for a “reset” of the UK-India partnership, including through reinforcing London’s commitment to securing a free trade agreement that will benefit both economies.

It said the Foreign Secretary will also galvanise support for accelerated action on the climate crisis with India as an “indispensable partner”, driving forward the clean energy transition and creating opportunities for British and Indian businesses.

He will discuss partnering on Indian-led global initiatives to build clean power access, climate resilience in the global south and small island states, it said.”We have shared interests on the green transition, new technologies, economic security and global security,” Lammy was quoted as saying in the readout.

“I am travelling to India in my first month as Foreign Secretary because resetting our relationship with the Global South is a key part of how this Government will reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home,” he said.