Kareena Eugene
On Tuesday, 4th May 2021, the Ministry of external Affairs said that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual Summit with Boris Johnson where the leaders talked through the extradition of fugitive Indian businessmen Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. Narendra Modi sought for an early extradition of the economic offenders, and the UK Prime Minister assured to do whatever was possible.
The meeting was also aimed at strengthening the bilateral ties between the two Countries in a range of areas like healthcare and trade, as the UK Prime Minister announced 1 Billion worth of UK-India trade and investment.
According to a statement received from Johnson’s Office, “More than 6,500 new jobs will be created around the UK thanks to the one billion pounds of new UK-India trade and investment announced by the Prime Minister today”.
The package contains over 533 million pounds of new Indian investment into the UK. Downing Street said, this is said to create more than 6,000 jobs in vital and growing sectors like Health and technology.
This package also includes a GBP 240 million investment by the Serum Institute of India (SII) into its vaccine business in the UK and a new sales office in the Country. Downing Street added, it is expected to generate new business worth over USD 1 billion.
Sandeep Chakraborty, Joint Secretary, Europe West, MEA said that during the meeting, both the leaders had a discussion about the possible scope of India-UK ties, and exchanged their views on regional and global issues of mutual interest. They discussed the COVID-19 situation and the ongoing cooperation in the fight against it as well.
Modi thanked Johnson for the medical assistance provided by the UK during the second wave of the pandemic.
UK was one of the first ones to respond to the crisis in India and had sent critical medical equipment, like oxygen concentrators, cylinders, ventilators amongst others.
According to Chakraborty, the leaders also discussed on the successful partnership for vaccines through Oxford/AstraZeneca-SII collaborations.
At the end of the Summit both sides are expected to unveil a 10-year-old roadmap that will further broaden the two Countries ties.
On Sunday, 2nd May 2021, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the meet will be an important opportunity to bring up the multi-faceted strategic ties and enhance cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest, ahead of the Summit.
The MEA had said that, “A comprehensive roadmap 2030 will be launched during the Summit, which will pave the way for further expanding and deepening India-UK cooperation over the next decade across five key areas”. Johnson was scheduled to visit India however, he called it off in view of the pandemic situation.
Johnson had planned a trip to participate in the Republic Day parade as the Chief Guest in January. It was cancelled due to the increase in the COVID-19 infection in the UK. Earlier in the day, a migration and mobility partnership agreement were signed by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and British Home Secretary Priti Paten.
Currently, Jaishankar is on a four-day trip to the UK to attend the meeting of foreign Ministers of G7 Countries. Jaishankar tweeted, “A fruitful meeting this morning with Home Secretary @pritipatel. Signed the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement that would facilitate legal travel and encourage talent flows. The living bridge between India and the UK will get stronger as a result”.