As conflict persists in Ukraine, India and Britain on Thursday called for upholding principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and international law. Britain also favoured more robust economic, strategic and defence ties with India given the unstable global order.
These were the main takeaways from the talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and visiting British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss. The talks took place a day before Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discusses the entire gamut of the Ukraine conflict and India-Russia ties with his Indian counterpart on Friday. He may also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Besides reviewing the ramifications of Russia’s military operation all over the world, India and Britain also discussed ways to further enhance cooperation in the strategically important Indo-Pacific region. The two Ministers also reportedly discussed the situation prevailing at the border in Ladakh for the last two years.
The two Ministers also took stock of the “Roadmap 2030” launched by both countries.
Continued on Page 2
UK for more robust economic, strategic, defence ties with India
It comprises comprehensive plans for the relationship over the next ten years and also serves as a useful instrument to actively monitor and pursue priorities.
A major step in this direction was taken last year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson launched the India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership that aims to more than double bilateral trade by 2030.
“I think the roadmap 2030 has progressed quite substantially. So, a lot to be done. In all of this, we have had geopolitical situations, quite apart from the Covid which had its impact earlier during the delegation-level talks with Truss,” Jaishankar said.
On her part, Truss said it is a vital time in global security in the wake of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. It is essential to respect the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international law.
“It is very important for the UK that we are improving our economic, security and defence relationships because we are living in a more unstable world. That’s why we are strengthening our work with India,” she added.
Truss also said she was happy to visit New Delhi for the third time in a year and review the progress made on the “Roadmap 2030” venture.
Jaishankar said there was a lot of work to be done and lauded the setting up of the Strategic Futures Forum. On the Ukraine situation, Jaishankar said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in India last week and the two ministers discussed the scenario in the war-afflicted nation.
Also, he said “our own relationship (with China) is not exactly going through its best period. But the Chinese have their own analysis of what’s happening in Ukraine”.
He made these observations at the India-UK Strategic Futures Forum. “What we saw happening in Afghanistan last summer had a very strong impact certainly in India, which wasn’t the same in Europe. People didn’t necessarily relate to the coming of the Taliban the same way or identify with the people affected in the same way,” he said.
Speaking at the same forum, Truss said India and the UK lead the world in areas like the number of Unicorns, the number of people involved in the tech industry. Both freedom-loving democracies will help lead the world. Free Trade deals between both countries can be completed rapidly.
Ahead of the talks, the British High Commission, in a statement, said Truss will convey to Jaishankar that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine underlines the importance of democracies working together to deter “aggressors” and reduce vulnerability to “coercion”.
“Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is in India today as part of a wider diplomatic push following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine last month,” the statement said.
It also said Truss wants to “counter” Russia’s aggression and reduce global strategic dependence on the country ahead of the key NATO and G-7 meetings next week.
“Deeper ties between Britain and India will boost security in the Indo-Pacific and globally, and create jobs and opportunities in both countries,” Truss was quoted as saying in the statement.
“This matters even more in the context of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and underlines the need for free democracies to work closer together in areas like defence, trade and cyber security,” she said.
The India-UK relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the India-UK virtual summit held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson in May last year.
The British minister also said she will work to deepen cyber security and defence cooperation between the two countries and announced a new joint cyber security programme.
The programme will aim to protect online infrastructure in both countries from attacks. It said India and the UK will work together to increase cyber security and carry out joint exercises to practise combatting threats from cybercriminals and ransomware.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla had said on Wednesday India and the UK are committed to delivering a comprehensive and balanced free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of this year along with an interim deal for early gains.
Addressing the First India-UK Strategic Futures Forum, Shringla said the `Roadmap 2030’ launched by both countries details comprehensive plans for the relationship over the next 10 years and also serves as a useful instrument to actively monitor and pursue agreed priorities.
A major step in this direction was taken last year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson launched the India-UK Enhanced Trade Partnership that aims to more than double bilateral trade by 2030.
Noting that defence and security is another key element of the India-UK renewed partnership, Shringla said the focus is on research and innovation and joint industrial cooperation to develop advanced defence capabilities and strengthen collaboration in tackling new threats in the cyber, space, counter-terrorism and maritime domains.
He noted that as the world faced a pandemic of unprecedented proportions, India and the UK joined hands in bringing in game-changing solutions. A notable success was the collaboration between Oxford Astra Zeneca and the Serum Institute of India, he said.