Nirmala Sitharaman arrives in London at start of six-day Europe tour

London: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in London on Monday evening at the start of a six-day official tour of Europe from April 8-13, which will also cover Austria.

The Ministry of Finance announced her arrival with a social media post after the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, received the minister at Heathrow Airport.

Sitharaman is scheduled to kick-start her UK visit with an in-conversation session at the High Commission of India in London in partnership with the London School of Economics (LSE) on Tuesday. This will be followed by the 13th Ministerial Round of the India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) with her UK counterpart, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, on Wednesday.

Both leaders are expected to announce and launch various reports and new initiatives for further bilateral collaborations, according to an official pre-visit Indian government statement.

“The 13th EFD is a significant bilateral platform between the two countries that offers opportunities for candid engagement at minister-level, officer-level, working groups and between the respective regulatory bodies in various aspects of financial collaboration, including investment matters, financial services, financial regulations, UPI interlinkages, taxation matters and illicit financial flows,” the statement notes.

The key priorities for the EFD on the Indian side have been flagged as cooperation in IFSC GIFT City, investment, insurance and pension sectors, fintech and digital economy, and mobilising affordable and sustainable climate finance.

The minister for finance and corporate affairs will go on to deliver the keynote address at the India-UK Investor Roundtable in the presence of chief executive officers of international organisations, including key management personnel from across the UK financial ecosystem, covering pension funds, insurance companies, banks and financial services institutions.

She will co-host the Roundtable with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, being held in partnership with the City of London Corporation and with senior management of prominent pension funds and asset managers in the UK among the participants.

The ongoing India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations are expected to be among the topics on the agenda during these discussions.

During the Austrian leg of the official visit after Thursday, the finance minister will hold bilateral meetings with senior Austrian government leaders, including Austrian Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer and H.E. Christian Stocker, the country’s Federal Chancellor.

Sitharaman and Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, Austrian Minister for Economy, Energy and Tourism, are set to co-chair a session with key Austrian CEOs to apprise them of existing and upcoming opportunities in India for deeper investment collaboration between the two countries.