PM Modi to visit Britain, Maldives ; boosting bilateral ties, inking India-UK FTA top focus

NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will pay a four-day visit to the United Kingdom and the Maldives from Wednesday to shore up overall bilateral ties and ink the landmark India-UK Free Trade deal.

Prime Minister will travel to the UK during July 23-24 and then go to the Maldives from July 25 to 26. He will be the guest of honour at the Indian Ocean archipelago’s Independence Day, marking a turnaround in bilateral ties that had turned frosty because of the policies of Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu.

The India-UK trade deal, which was finalised in May, is expected to be formally signed during Modi’s visit, people familiar with the matter said. The FTA is set to boost Indian exports of textiles, leather and engineering goods and cut levies on British whisky, automobiles and medical devices. The two sides have been engaged in the legal scrubbing of the deal since May.

The FTA is expected to double bilateral trade by 2030 from the current level of $60 billion. Another attractive feature of the deal is an exemption for employers of Indian workers from paying social security contributions in the UK for three years under the Double Contribution Convention.

The Prime Minister will visit the Maldives on July 25–26, where he will serve as the Chief Guest at the 60th National Day celebrations. This will be his first visit to the Maldives under President Mohamed Muizzu’s administration, and also the first since recent strains in bilateral relations, primarily due to the “India Out” campaign led by some Maldivian leaders and the current regime’s pro-China stance.

This visit is seen as a critical opportunity to address lingering concerns, foster mutual cooperation, and reaffirm India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy in the Indian Ocean Region. The focus will be on rebuilding trust and establishing a more robust partnership, crucial for regional stability and India’s strategic interests. Prime Minister Modi’s last bilateral visit to the Maldives was in June 2019.

President Muizzu’s visit to India in October 2024, after his election, signalled an interest in mending ties and advancing collaborative efforts, which Prime Minister Modi’s current visit is poised to reciprocate and strengthen.