NEW DELHI, Nov. 21 -- UK minister for the Indo-Pacific, Seema Malhotra, on Thursday arrived in India on a three-day visit aimed at taking forward the recently signed landmark free trade agreement (FTA) that will boost Indian exports of textiles, leather and engineering goods and cut levies on British whisky, automobiles and medical devices, catalysing trade, investment and job creation. "Our joint UK-India Vision 2035 has the landmark FTA at its core. During my visit I will see the impact of our revitalised partnership: creating thousands of jobs, driving innovation, and delivering investment in both our countries," she said. The deal between the world's fifth and sixth largest economies was announced in May and signed in July, almost three years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his former British counterpart Boris Johnson set a target of concluding the FTA by October 2022. Since then, the negotiations were affected by differences on a range of issues, including tariffs on alcohol and automobiles and mobility of Indian professionals, and political turmoil in the UK. The deal is projected to boost UK's GDP by £4.8 billion annually, raise wages by £2.2 billion, and increase bilateral trade by £25.5 billion, the British High Commission in Delhi said. "The minister will build on the success of the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's recent trade mission to India, meeting with British businesses in Chennai and Bengaluru, including Tesco, Revolut and BT, to hear how the UK-India FTA is helping them grow and bring investment back to the UK," the BHC said. Starmer paid an official visit to India in October, his first. It followed Modi's visit to the UK in July 2025 when both sides inked the historic India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and adopted the India-UK Vision 2035 and a Defence Industrial Roadmap. "As a UK minister of Indian descent, I am delighted to be visiting India so early since my appointment as UK minister for Indo Pacific. It is a reflection of the importance of India to the UK, and testament to a transformative year in UK-India relations," Malhotra said....