Indian Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday held separate meetings with Czech Republic Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlíček and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to discuss strengthening bilateral economic cooperation, trade, investment and technology partnerships.

In a post on X, Goyal said he held a “productive meeting” with Havlíček, during which both sides explored avenues to strengthen bilateral trade and investment, encourage joint manufacturing and industrial partnerships, and expand cooperation across key sectors.

“Explored avenues to strengthen bilateral trade & investment, encourage joint manufacturing & industrial partnerships, and expand cooperation in railways, mobility, defence & advanced technologies,” Goyal said.

He further emphasised the importance of closer industry-to-industry collaboration in strengthening the economic partnership and unlocking new opportunities through the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (India-EU FTA).

“We reaffirmed the role of closer industry-to-industry collaboration in strengthening our economic partnership and unlocking new opportunities through the India-EU FTA,” Goyal added. In a separate post on X, Goyal expressed delight at meeting former UK Prime Minister Sunak, referring to him as his friend

“Delighted to meet my friend and former UK Prime Minister,” Goyal said. He added that the discussions focused on strengthening economic cooperation between India and the United Kingdom to drive growth, with trade, investment, innovation and technology partnerships featuring prominently in the exchange.

“It was a great exchange on strengthening India-UK economic cooperation to drive growth. Our discussions featured trade, investment, innovation, and technology partnerships between the two sides,” Goyal said.

The two meetings focused on expanding India's economic engagement with European partners, strengthening bilateral trade and investment, and creating opportunities for industrial collaboration, innovation and technological cooperation.

Earlier on Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Karel Havlíček reviewed the entire spectrum of defence industrial cooperation between the two countries and agreed to expand collaboration under the India-Czech Joint Defence Committee to promote 'Make in India' and 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

During their bilateral meeting in New Delhi, the two leaders welcomed the ongoing collaboration and the successful establishment of various joint ventures, while agreeing to further strengthen defence industrial ties, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence.

Sharing details of the meeting on X, Rajnath Singh said, "Had a wonderful meeting with the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Mr Karel Havlicek in New Delhi today. We reviewed the entire spectrum of Defence Industrial Cooperation, and we were pleased to note the progress and success of various Joint Ventures. We also agreed to further expand this collaboration under the aegis of the India-Czech Joint Defence Committee, to promote Atmanirbhar Bharat."

Havlíček is on a four-day visit to India and is holding interactions with various ministries, trade representatives and businesses. During his visit, he is also scheduled to travel to Bengaluru and Mumbai to visit industries.

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and congratulated the latter on completing 25 years in public service and hailed the UK-India partnership. In a post on X, Sunak recalled working with PM Modi during his tenure as UK PM and commended PM Modi's commitment and work ethic, calling it exemplary.

Shedding light on the UK-India partnership, he said that the ties continue to strengthen under PM Modi's leadership, while expressing hopes for further bolstering of bilateral cooperation. "Prime Minister @narendramodi great to see you in New Delhi today. Congratulations on 25 years in public service, a remarkable achievement. It was a pleasure to work with you when I was Prime Minister. Your commitment, your work ethic, your energy is an example to us all. The UK India relationship is going from strength to strength under your leadership. Our two countries cooperating more on trade, tech and AI is vital in a less predictable world. I know that Britain and India will continue to grow ever closer in the years ahead," he wrote on X.

Earlier in the day, Sunak said that countries like India and those in the Gulf are increasingly able to chart their own course in a changing global order and would not always agree with the United States or China, highlighting growing geopolitical uncertainty and the changing dynamics of global power.

Speaking during a panel discussion titled "The End of Predictability" at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2026 in the national capital, Sunak said the world was witnessing a shift away from the multilateral, rules-based framework that had shaped the global economy, creating new uncertainties and risks.
Source: ANI