The 2030 Roadmap with India, according to UK Trade Minister Nigel Huddleston, will be extremely beneficial for both nations. The minister said it will strengthen cooperation and bring the two nations even closer while speaking at an event here.

“The 2030 roadmap, which our Prime Ministers agreed on in May 2021, is a workable strategy to change the dynamic between the United Kingdom and India. Both countries will greatly profit from it. We have pledged to increase commerce between these two powerful nations by twofold, Huddleston stated.

Both the UK and India, according to him, have worldwide interests and influence. “We are world leaders in research and technology. We collaborated on the Covid vaccination, which helped save hundreds of lives across multiple nations, according to Huddleston.

A half million jobs were supported in each country in 2022 by the GBP 36 billion in bilateral trade between India and the UK.

None of the major global issues, according to the minister, is more important than climate change. The coalition for disaster-resistant infrastructure and the International Solar Alliance are two projects that the United States is happy to support alongside India, the minister said.

He also disclosed an expansion of UK-West Bengali cooperation in the fields of sustainable building and electric transportation.

He said that in order to overcome the obstacles to a quicker uptake of electric vehicles, the UK had collaborated with the West Bengal government to close skill gaps in the EV ecosystem.

Together, the UK and West Bengal will “faster, more affordably, and more widely accessible the transition to zero emission vehicles,” he continued.

The tenth round of negotiations for a free trade agreement between the UK and India have now concluded.

Huddleston, who arrived in the city on Monday for a two-day visit, also met Amit Mitra, a former finance minister for West Bengal.

“It was a pleasure speaking with @DrAmitMitra to reiterate the UK’s commitment to promoting economic growth in this thriving state. Additionally committed to attending the Bengal Global Business Summit, where we last year brought the largest foreign delegation, he tweeted.

In addition, the UK minister met Sanjiv Goenka, chairman and MD of the RPG Sanjiv Goenka Group, and they spoke about potential business collaborations.

“Really fruitful discussion with Chairman and MD of @rpsggroup Sanjiv Goenka. We spoke about trade between the UK and India and how an FTA between the two countries might help eliminate trade barriers, lower tariffs, and open doors for businesses, creating jobs and opening up chances for economic growth, the minister tweeted.

With 2.1% of its overall trade, India is its 12th-largest trading partner.

Huddleston is on a three-day trip to South Asia, which includes Kolkata and Dhaka in Bangladesh, according to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), with the goal of expanding prospects for British businesses to increase trade and two-way business flow.