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India ties vital, top UK minister tells Jaitley
A top minister handling Brexit negotiations said during finance minister Arun Jaitley’s visit to the London Stock Exchange that the India-UK investment relationship is very important for Britain.
The UK-India investment relationship is hugely important, a key minister responsible for Brexit negotiations told finance minister Arun Jaitley at the London Stock Exchange on Monday.
Jaitley opened the market at LSE in the morning, accompanied by international trade secretary Liam Fox and others.
"India is now the third largest investor and second largest job creator in the UK, the UK is the largest G20 investor in India and plays an important role in building skills in the Indian workforce," Fox said.
Following the market opening ceremony, London Stock Exchange CEO Nikhil Rathi hosted a roundtable event with Jaitley, delegates from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, fintech companies and leading investors.
Rathi said: "Minister Jaitley’s second visit to the UK in a year underlines the success of the business and financial partnership between the UK and India and builds on recent landmark visits by Prime Minister Theresa May to India and Prime Minister Modi to the UK.
"We’re honoured once again to welcome Minister Jaitley to open trading on our historic markets. 2016 was a tremendous year for masala bonds in London, with the Indian corporate masala bond market launching in London with HDFC’s landmark bond issuance in July 2016, cementing London Stock Exchange’s clear position as the leading global venue for offshore rupee-denominated fundraising."
Fox said the British government is committed to deepen the relationship and “in my first months as secretary of state for international trade, I’ve been lucky enough to visit India twice - most recently accompanying the Prime Minister on her first bilateral visit outside Europe, as well as her first trade delegation".
Jaitley is on a four-day visit, mainly to represent Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Queen Elizabeth's reception at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening to launch the India-UK Year of Culture.
