David Lammy MP, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the United Kingdom (UK) paid an official visit to India from 24th to 25th July 2024 at the invitation of Union Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India (GoI).
- This marks his first official visit to India in his capacity as UK Foreign Secretary after Labour Party swept the UK’s General Elections held in July, 2024.
- During his visit, he called on Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and held a bilateral meeting with Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA) of India.
Bilateral Meeting between EAM and UK’s Foreign Secretary
On 24th July 2024, External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with David Lammy MP and reviewed the Roadmap 2030 which was agreed between the Prime Ministers (PMs) of India and UK during the India-UK Virtual Summit held in 2021.
- During the bilateral meeting, leaders of both countries discussed diverse range of priority areas that can help to intensify bilateral cooperation such as: trade and investment, defence and security, migration, and mobility, Artificial Intelligence (AI), climate and green energy.
- They also agreed to boost defence and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and discussed international issues such as: Russia-Ukraine conflict, the situation in West Asia and the Red Sea, the Commonwealth and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
India-UK Launched Technology Security Initiative (TSI)
India and the UK launched a new Technology Security Initiative (TSI) which aims to boost economic growth and strengthen the collaboration between two countries. The initiative was spearheaded and agreed by the National Security Advisors (NSAs) of India and the UK.
- The TSI will be based on the ambitious cooperation agenda set out in India-UK Roadmap 2030.
About TSI:
i.The TSI will help to expand collaboration between two countries in Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET) across priority sectors such as: telecom, critical minerals, semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum, biotech and advanced materials.
ii.The TSI will also foster collaborations between government, private sector, academia and Research and Development (R&D) institutions.
iii.Apart from the launch of TSI, a Fact Sheet was also launched which focus mainly on specific technologies and areas of cooperation. It will provide accurate guidance to all stakeholders, especially industry and academia, and will assist future collaboration.
Key Points:
i.Both countries agreed to set up a bilateral mechanism which will be led by MEA, GoI and the UK Government to promote critical and emerging technology trade and collaboration, which also includes resolution of relevant licensing and regulatory issues.
- They also discussed bilateral cooperation between India and UK in the field of climate and green economy and also discussed the Migration and Mobility partnership between two countries to strengthen people-to-people ties.
ii.Both the countries appreciated the significant progress made in the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and hoped for its early conclusion to achieve a mutually beneficial FTA.
About India-UK Free Trade Agreement:
i.The talks of Free Trade Agreement between India and UK was initially started in January 2022 by then- UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
ii.It aims to double the trade between Indian and the UK from its 2022 level of USD 50 billion by 2030.
iii.So far, 13 round of negotiations held between India and the UK related to FTA.
About the United Kingdom (UK):
Capital- London
Prime Minister (PM) – Kier Starmer
Curency– British Pound Sterling (GBP)
