Augmenting trade and defence ties in focus as PM Modi set to embark on landmark UK visit

New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold wide-ranging discussions with his counterpart from the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, including on further strengthening of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP), during his two-day visit to London, starting Wednesday.

"This will be the Prime Minister's fourth visit to the United Kingdom since assuming office. He has visited previously in 2015, 2018 and he was there in 2021 for the COP26 Summit in Glasgow. Within the last year itself, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Starmer have already met twice, first on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro last year and more recently, just last month in June in Kananaskis in Canada on the sidelines of the G7 Summit and they have also been in touch on the phone a number of times," said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri while addressing a special media briefing ahead of PM Modi's two-nation visit to the UK and Maldives, on Tuesday.

Besides exchanging views on issues of regional and global importance, Prime Minister Modi and Starmer will review the entire gamut of India-UK bilateral relations with a specific focus on trade and economy, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate, health, education and people-to-people ties.

PM Modi will also call on King Charles III and interact with the business leaders and the Indian community in the United Kingdom.

"Apart from the Summit level engagements, there are regular engagements at the level of the External Affairs Minister and his counterpart, the British Foreign Secretary. There are several other institutional mechanisms at ministerial level, dealing with strategic issues, financial, economic, energy related issues as well as science and technology. In contemporary times, the sectors of business, technology, research, education, innovation, the knowledge economy have emerged as key pillars of our bilateral cooperation. The Technology-Security initiative (TSI) for instance, which is coming up to its one year anniversary, was signed last year and is a major indicator of where we are taking our ties in critical and emerging technologies," Foreign Secretary Misri stated.

On trade ties between India and the UK, the Foreign Secretary said: "Our bilateral trade crossed USD 55 billion in 2023-24. The UK is also the sixth largest investor in India with an cumulative investment of USD 36 billion and interestingly, India itself is a large source of foreign direct investment in the UK with a cumulative of USD 20 billion. There are close to 1000 Indian companies in the UK that provide employment to nearly 100,000 people and have a cumulative revenue of USD 91 billion."

He also spoke about the UK-India Infrastructure Finances Bridge, coordinated between NITI Aayog and the City of London on the UK side. The mechanism works to avail UK expertise in mobilising finance for green infrastructure projects and renewable energy sector in India.

Highlighting the defence ties between two nations, Misri said, "In the defence sector, we are seeing regular interactions and exercises among all three branches of the armed forces. We have placed military instructors at each other's military academies and one of the more significant partnership project we have embarked on in recent times is the agreement to look at electric propulsion capability between the two countries."

The Foreign Secretary mentioned that the Serum Institute of India and UK's Oxford University have agreed to co-develop a malaria vaccine which was approved by World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2023. He also recalled how the two partners had previously developed the Covishield vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He mentioned that the University of Southampton has opened a campus in Gurugram under new education policy and several other UK universities are also considering opening campuses in India under the same policy.

The Foreign Secretary emphasised the role of Indian diaspora in the UK, which he said has contributed to strengthening bilateral ties and made valuable contribution to the society and economy of the UK.

"One of the most important, probably the foundational aspect of this relationship is the Living Bridge that connects India and the UK, nearly 1.8 million strong Indian diaspora, which has contributed to strengthening bonds of friendship between our two countries but has also made extremely valuable contribution to the UK economy and society," Misri said.

The ties between India and the UK, over the years have transformed into a robust, multi-faceted, mutually beneficial relationship. The relationship has been elevated to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2021. There has been enormous growth across all sectors including trade and economy, defence and security, climate, green energy, health, education, people-to-people ties.

There are five Ministerial level Institutional Mechanisms between two nations in strategic, economy and finance, trade, energy, science and technology. Other recently held dialogues include Foreign Office Consultation, Defence Consultation Group, 2+2 Foreign and Defence Dialogue, etc.

The climate partnership between India and the UK is strong. The UK is an active participant in India's International Solar Alliance and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) initiatives. One Sun One World One Grid-Green Grid Initiative was launched with the UK in COP26 in Glasgow. UK has been providing technical expertise and inputs to CDRI’s initiatives including Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) for Small Developing Island States(SIDS). Climate Finance is another area of cooperation between two nations.

--IANS

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