FM Sitharaman arrives in Austria after India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue

London, Apr 10 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday arrived in Austria at the conclusion of the India-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), high-level bilateral discussions and investor meetings in London.

The Ministry of Finance posted an update on social media as the Ambassador of India to Austria, Shambhu S Kumaran, welcomed the minister in Vienna.

"During the Austrian leg of the official visit, the Union Finance Minister will hold bilateral meetings with senior Austrian government leaders, including with Mr Markus Marterbauer, Finance Minister, Austria; and H.E. Mr. Christian Stocker, the Federal Chancellor, Austria,” the ministry said in a pre-visit statement.

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

The visit follows a busy schedule in the UK this week, which included talks with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds. Besides their bilateral talks, Sitharaman and her British counterpart, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, concluded the 13th round of the EFD. It resulted in a joint statement designed to unlock cooperation across a range of business sectors, including defence, financial services, education and development, and strengthen governmental collaboration across growth, economic resilience and international financial issues.

“I value this dialogue very much because we saw that there was a lot of point-to-point discussion on specific items of interest, both for India and in the UK,” Sitharaman told reporters on Wednesday after the EFD.

“The other point is the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) dialogue, negotiations for which are going on. There is a great sense of positivity and also eagerness and a dedication to have this conclude sooner rather than later, from both sides… We want to conclude it, get over the difficulties that we've had on just a few matters, nevertheless we'll be talking about it, and we will certainly conclude it is my expectation,” she said.

According to an official UK Treasury statement, the total commercial package resulting from the EFD is made up of new announcements worth GBP 128 million in export deals and investments, as well as recent deals worth GBP 271 million.

Earlier, Sitharaman participated in a series of roundtables and business discussions to showcase India's attractive investment landscape. Asked about the long-term impact of US tariffs imposed on Indian imports, the minister described it as an issue being technically studied with a country-by-country approach including pursuing an “ambitious trade agreement” from which both the US and India can benefit. PTI AK ZH ZH

Source: PTI