UK Foreign Secretary Truss to arrive in India on March 31

Announcing the visit Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement Truss will hold consultations with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.

There has been a flurry of visits to India of several leaders, including the foreign ministers of Austria and Greece and the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, in the past few weeks.

The unfolding situation in Ukraine is likely to be discussed extensively during Truss’s talks with Jaishankar.

“The visit will also serve to further deepen our partnership across various sectors such as trade and investment, science, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate cooperation, education and digital communications,” the MEA statement said.

Truss would also participate in the inaugural edition of the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum, a track 1.5 Dialogue between the two countries, the statement added.

This would be the UK Foreign Secretary’s second visit to India since the India-UK relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during a virtual summit in May last between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson.

During the summit, the two sides adopted a 10-year roadmap to expand ties in key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections, among others.

Truss’s visit, according to the MEA, would also provide an opportunity to assess the progress on the ‘Roadmap 2030’.