UK Foreign Secy wishes India on Republic Day, says looking forward to "another year of cooperation"

London [UK], January 26 (ANI): As India celebrates its 74th Republic Day, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary James Cleverly extended greetings to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the people of the country.
Taking to his Twitter handle, Cleverly stated that the UK looks forward to another year of "friendship and cooperation."
James Cleverly tweeted, "Happy Republic Day to my friend @DrSJaishankar and the people of India. We look forward to another year of friendship and cooperation! #RepublicDay2023." In response, Jaishankar tweeted, "Thank you for your good wishes @JamesCleverly."
UK's Minister for Indo-Pacific at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Anne-Marie Trevelyan extended greetings to teams working on UK-India Free Trade Agreement. Republic Day is being celebrated across India with great fervour. On this day, 74 years back, India officially adopted its Constitution following its Independence.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan tweeted, "Happy Republic Day to the amazing teams working on our UK-#India FTA as we deepen our relationships @PiyushGoyal @tradegovuk @KemiBadenoch @AmandaBrooksDIT @harjinderkangUK."
Notably, India and UK are working to conclude a Free Trade Agreement. Earlier, Britain's High Commissioner Alex Ellis highlighted that after covering a lot of ground now the question is down to not just the technical details but political will on both sides to push for an early conclusion of the deal.
In the latest episode of ANI 'Podcast with Smita Prakash', the British High Commissioner underlined the benefits of the India-UK free trade deal, which he says is underpinned by the mutual trust between the two countries.
"We are getting towards the end of this negotiation I would say. It's a long ascent up to any mountain, then you go through the valley for a long time, then you go up to the base camp, and then you do a short sharp ascent. That's what we are trying to do. Both countries want to do the deal and that's a big change," he said in response to a question on the FTA. (ANI)