THE Union Minister of Commerce, Mr Anand Sharma, in a meeting with Mr. George Osborne MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, UK, said that “we are very clear that there is no revisiting on multi-brand retail. Government is trying to build a wider political consensus after which notification will be issued.”

Mr Sharma and Mr Osborne also jointly addressed CEOs from India and United Kingdom where Mr. Osborne praised India's contribution to the UK economy. He also assured Mr Sharma that UK will continue to provide an open investment climate. Mr. Osborne asked Indian government to be more ambitious in retail liberalisation. On India-EU deal, Mr. Osborne said that UK remains a strong advocate of the deal and will provide all help for an early conclusion of the deal. Mr. Osborne also urged an early and amicable solution to the Vodafone issue.

Mr Anand Sharma, in a bilateral meeting with the British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Dr. Vince Cable on July 26, 2012, said that that the bilateral trade and investment between the two nations is getting impacted by difficulties in obtaining visas. Mr Sharma mentioned that they want to make sure that business visitors/service providers are facilitated to travel to the UK to explore business opportunities and execute business contracts. He highlighted as to how the IT industry, in particular, is getting impacted by such issues as delivery of services is dependent on movement of professionals at short notice.