British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and discussed defense, energy, and trade ties.
"I thank my khaas dost (special friend) Narendra, and the people of India for the grand welcome. I felt like Sachin Tendulkar upon my arrival and also like Amitabh Bachchan when I saw hoardings everywhere," Johnson said at the beginning of his speech.
"We work with India to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region and we share a common vision for that," Johnson continued, noting that they seek a new free trade agreement by Diwali.
He added: "We appreciate the tariffs being dropped by India on certain goods and commodities and in return, we too are dropping some tariffs we levy."
The British official also asserted that they look forward to the close cooperation shared between the UK's NHS and India's health services.
On his part, Modi welcomed Johnson and revealed that they had a detailed discussion about the two countries' strategic and defense partnership.
"We welcome UK's keenness on manufacturing in India, especially in the defense sector, and in making 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' a success. We invite the UK to join India's National Hydrogen Mission," Modi noted. "India and UK will co-develop a $100 million initiative to battle the issue of climate change by funding tech firms and start-ups.
In the same vein, the two leaders addressed the Russian-Ukrainian war and reiterated their support for a democratic and inclusive government in Afghanistan.
Ahead of their meeting, Downing Street announced the UK planned to streamline its licensing rules for exporting military hardware to India.
In addition, Johnson revealed that the UK would support India to construct fighter jets, in an attempt to reduce the volume of weapons bought from Russia.
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