Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to improve bilateral trade with India.

The Prime Minister’s first bilateral visit beyond Europe was to India. Joined by my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade and myself, she led a UK business delegation, to meet with key Indian businesses and senior officials.

She met Prime Minister Modi, opened the India-UK Tech Summit, and announced £1.2bn of commercial deals. Both governments committed to building the “closest possible trade and economic relationship”.

My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade co-chairs the India/UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee, and established a Joint Working Group to review and strengthen our trading relationship, both now and when we leave the EU.

UK Export Finance has considerable appetite to support UK exports to India and welcomes new applications for support.