Rishi Sunak's Special Appearance At Ajit Doval-UK Counterpart's Meet

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined the meeting between India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his British counterpart Tim Barrow in London, the High Commission of India said. Mr Doval's visit to London comes right after he met his US counterpart Jake Sullivan in Washington on Tuesday

"A special gesture by PM Rishi Sunak to join for a while. NSA dialogue between Sir Tim Barrow and M. Doval at the Cabinet Office. Deeply value PM's assurance of his government's full support to deepen strategic partnership in trade, defence, S&T. Look forward to visit of Sir Tim to India soon," Indian High Commission tweeted.

A special gesture by PM @rishisunak to join for a while🇮🇳🇬🇧 NSA dialogue btwn Sir Tim Barrow & Mr. Doval at @cabinetofficeuk. Deeply value PM's assurance of his Govts full support to deepen strategic partnership in trade, defence, S&T. Look forward to visit of Sir Tim to 🇮🇳 soon. pic.twitter.com/ffqfQCVdtj

— India in the UK (@HCI_London) February 4, 2023

Earlier this week, Ajit Doval met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during which they exchanged views on a wide range of global and regional issues and discussed deepening the bilateral strategic partnership.

Tim Barrow was chosen to serve as National Security Adviser of the UK in September last year. He was once the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's (FCDO) Political Director and Second Permanent Under-Secretary, according to the official website of the Government of the UK.

India and the United Kingdom (UK) share a comprehensive strategic partnership with each other. The two nations have also concluded six rounds of negotiations for a trade deal and will begin the next round very soon.

Soon after he became prime minister, Rishi Sunak had indicated he would take a different approach to trade deals to his predecessor Liz Truss, who was prime minister for a few weeks but set the tone for Britain's negotiations as trade minister.

"My approach will be one where we don't sacrifice quality for speed," Rishi Sunak said, adding he remained "committed to" getting a deal with India. "I want to take the time to get trade deals right."