Sticking points include high tariffs in India on Scotch whisky and relaxing fees and visa rules for Indian students and professionals going to the UK.

Talks are being held for the first time after the Labour Party came to power in the UK and Reynolds says securing a deal is a “top priority” for his government.

“Growth will be the guiding principle in our trade negotiations with India and I’m excited about the opportunities on offer in this vibrant market,” he said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

India is forecast to become the world’s third-largest economy in a few years.

The ministers held a joint press conference after the meeting, but neither side offered a deadline for talks to conclude. Deadlines set by former ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss had passed without an agreement being finalised.

For Delhi, the trade talks have assumed renewed significance on the back of US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose reciprocal or tit-for-tat tariffs on imported goods from countries, including India.

The UK is also a high-priority trading partner for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has an ambitious target to grow exports by $1 trillion by FY30.

The UK had announced in November last year – soon after Sir Keir Starmer met PM Modi at the G20 summit in Brazil – that talks would restart in the new year.

The two countries share a trade relationship worth £41bn ($52bn) currently, according to a UK government statement, and a trade deal could unlock new opportunities for both countries.

London has identified sectors that could benefit, which include advanced manufacturing, clean energy and professional and trade services. An agreement could also potentially unlock a valuable market for British cars, Scotch whisky and financial services worth billions of dollars.

India is seeking greater mobility for its working professionals and students to the UK, while pushing for faster visa processing times.

It may also seek concessions for its residents working temporarily in the UK on business visas, who are required to pay national insurance but are still ineligible for social benefits.

Speaking at the joint conference, Goyal said that immigration was not a part of the discussions.

“India has never ever discussed immigration in any free trade negotiations,” he said. Reynolds added that business mobility was a “separate issue” from immigration.

During Reynolds’ visit, he and Goyal will also visit the BT office in the northern Indian city of Gurugram.

UK Investment Minister Poppy Gustafsson is also in India and will be participating in events in India’s two big business hubs – Mumbai and Bengaluru.

After years of scepticism over free trade deals, India has been signing agreements or is in talks with several countries or blocs. Last year, it signed a $100bn free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association – a group of four European countries that are not members of the European Union – after almost 16 years of negotiations.

It is also set to resume negotiations with the European Union this year.

[BBC]

Zelensky said he was currently focused on Ukraine’s security and it was not his “dream” to remain president for a decade.

Ukrainian legislation bans elections during martial law, which has been in place since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

EU and world leaders are due to head to Kyiv on Monday to show their support for Ukraine and discuss security guarantees.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are among those expected to attend the meeting in person.

Zelensky said the topic of Ukraine joining Nato would be “on the table” at the meeting but he did not know how the discussions would “finish”. He said he hoped the meeting would be a “turning point”.

On the topic of Trump, Zelensky said that he wanted to see the US president as a partner to Ukraine and more than a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow.

“I really want it to be more than just mediation…that’s not enough,” he told the press conference. His comments come as political leaders in Europe fear Kyiv is being sidelined in talks to bring an end to the war.

Zelensky was also asked about a potential deal the Trump administration has pushed for to provide the US access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals.

“We are making progress,” Zelensky said, adding that Ukrainian and US officials had been in touch about the deal.

“We are ready to share,” the Ukrainian leader said, but made clear that Washington first needed to ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin “ends this war”.

Health officials in Texas say those numbers are likely an undercount, as some parents may not report infections or may not realise their child has the disease.

“It is troubling, because this was completely preventable,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins University, told CBS News, the BBC’s American news partner.

“It’s the most contagious infectious disease known to humans,” she added.

Symptoms of the highly infectious illness include fever, cough, runny nose, eye irritation and a signature rash.

A measles infection can have particularly devastating complications for pregnant women and young children, including pneumonia, neurological impairment, hearing loss and death, and survivors are at risk of developing a degenerative brain and nervous system disease known as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE).

Most US children receive two shots to protect against the illness, which together are 97% effective in protecting against measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Health experts say that the disease could be controlled or even eradicated with proper inoculation rates – generally defined as 95% of a community receiving the measles vaccine.

But vaccination rates have dropped in some communities in recent decades as a loose network of vaccine sceptics have without evidence questioned the safety and efficacy of the shots. Robert F Kennedy Jr, recently confirmed as President Donald Trump’s health secretary, faced strong criticism for his ties to these groups.

Most states require that children receive the MMR vaccine to attend school, but many, including Texas, also allow families to file a conscientious exemption – a non-medical reason to refuse a vaccine requirement.

In Texas, federal data shows that the state achieved a 94.3% vaccination rate among kindergarteners for the 2023-2024 school year, while New Mexico reached 95%. But a state survey of Texas schools found that rates of exemptions were ticking upwards for MMR and other required vaccines.

In Gaines County, where 57 of the Texas cases were reported, exemptions have surged over the last decade. State data shows 17.62% of students had a conscientious exemption to at least one required vaccine during the 2023-2024 school year, up from 7.45% in the 2013-2014 year.

Neighbouring Terry County, home to 20 cases, saw exemption rates go from zero to 3.73% in the same time period.

Texas officials reported that of the 90 cases in their state, 85 were in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unclear.

CBS reports that the area is home to a large Mennonite community, which typically have low vaccination rates due to the group’s religious beliefs.

But some officials are reluctant to intervene.

“We respect everyone’s right to vaccinate or not get vaccinated,” Albert Pilkington, CEO of the nearby Seminole Hospital District, told the Texas Standard. “That’s just what it means to be an American, right?”

American children have been vaccinated against measles since 1963. The jab was improved and combined with vaccines for the mumps and rubella viruses about a decade later, and is widely considered to be safe.

Prior to the vaccine’s introduction, around 48,000 people were hospitalized with measles each year and 400–500 people died. In 2024, the US reported 285 cases with 114 hospitalisations.

Health officials in New Mexico are offering a free vaccine clinic this week in an effort to boost protection. Texas also directed residents to contact their doctors or visit a clinic to get vaccinated if they have not previously received a shot.

[BBC]