S Jaishankar meets FCDO Permanent Under-Secretary Philip Barton in Delhi

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Philip Barton, Permanent Under-Secretary, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), in Delhi on Monday.

“Glad to meet @PhilipRBarton Permanent-Undersecretary at @FCDOGovUK today morning,” Jaishankar on Monday tweeted on his official Twitter handle @DrSJaishankar. “Discussed our expanding bilateral relationship including progress under our Roadmap 2030 and global issues,” he further wrote.

Barton in response tweeted: “Thank you Dr. Jaishankar for the warm words. Congratulations once again on India’s G20 Presidency. The UK remains committed to working collaboratively with you to tackle the biggest global challenges.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom.

The FCDO’s duty according to information on the UK government’s official website, gov.uk, is to pursue Britain’s national interests and project the UK as a force for good in the world.

“We promote the interests of British citizens, safeguard the UK’s security, defend our values, reduce poverty and tackle global challenges with our international partners,” according to the FCDO website.
Prior to his appointment as the Permanent Under Secretary of FCDO, Barton was the British High Commissioner to India.

Recently, the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram K Doraiswami and Matthew Rycroft, the permanent secretary at the Home Office of the UK signed and exchanged letters for formalising the Young Professional Scheme at an event in London.

The event took place at the High Commission of India in London.

Rycroft is a diplomat serving as Permanent Under-Secretary of the UK at the Home Office since 2020.
“HC @VDoraiswami & PUS Home @MatthewRycroft1 signed & exchanged the letters for formalising the Young Professional Scheme at an event @HCI_London today. Further details and implementation date will be shared soon. @MEAIndia @PIBHomeAffairs @ukhomeoffice @DoC_GoI @ANI @DDNewslive,” the official handle of the High Commission of India in London tweeted.

During the sixth round of talks for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which concluded on December 16, India and the United Kingdom undertook technical discussions covering 11 policy areas over 28 sessions.

The UK government’s Department of International Trade stated in a joint conclusion statement on the sixth round of FTA negotiations between the UK and India that extensive draft treaty text discussions were held across 11 subject areas.

The seventh round of official-level talks is scheduled for early 2023.
On December 12-13, Secretary of State for International Trade Kemi Badenoch visited India to kick off the sixth round of UK-India FTA discussions.

She met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal “where they welcomed the newest round of talks and discussed wider trade and investment opportunities for the UK and India”.