India, UK hold annual foreign office consultations

India and the UK on  held their annual foreign office consulations during which they discussed a number of key bilateral issues with focus on trade and visa besides regional matters.

Foreign Secretary Rajan Mathai and UK Permanent Under Secretary Simon Fraser met here and the discussions focused on various aspects of bilateral relations, including economic ties, visa and consular issues as well as a review of the calendar of visits.

The strength of the economic relationship was acknowledged, official sources said.

The two noted that despite the global economic slowdown, the Indo-UK trade is growing.

According to official figures, bilateral trade in 2011-12 exceeded $16 billion, up from $12.5 billion in 2010-11.

While the UK is the fourth largest investor here, India is the third largest investor in the UK.

Over 700 Indian companies are operational in the UK.

"Issues relating to investment climate were discussed. India would like to see greater investments flow from the UK. Visa difficulties for Indian entrepreneurs and businessmen as also student visas was discussed," a source said pointing out that it was agreed to continue the dialogue on these issues.

On regional issues, there was an "extensive" exchange of views on developments in West Asia, including Syria.

There was an exchange of views on the situation in Afghanistan and other developments in South Asia and Europe, including the Euro zone debt crisis, sources said.

A range of multilateral issues, including reform of the UN including the Security Council, and the G8 Summit were also discussed, they said.