INDIAN foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale and Sir Simon McDonald, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, met in New Delhi yesterday (10) for Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) consultations to review bilateral co-operation.
The dialogue celebrated 12 months of progress since Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK in April 2018 for the Commonwealth Summit, where he and prime minister May agreed on closer collaboration across trade and technology, security and people-to-people links.
The two countries have, over the past year, identified specific areas to work together as a force for good.
Bilateral trade has grown by 14 per cent, and visas for Indian students have increased by 35 per cent.
Speaking after the meeting, Sir Simon said: “The UK-India relationship is focused on the future: whether it be through the technology partnership, security collaboration or economic ties, our bilateral co-operation is designed to build shared prosperity and tackle future challenges. It has been 12 months of impressive progress since the Commonwealth Summit.
“Over the next decade, the UK and India will be ever more central players in global debates on security, development and protecting our planet. I’m delighted that, together, we are tackling these issues head-on as partners - reinforcing our two Prime Ministers’ desire to act as a joint ‘Force for Good’ in the world.”
The UK and India share a common ambition for an international rules-based system. In line with this, the FCO consultations also covered bilateral co-operation on cyber and maritime security, counter-terrorism, and other regional challenges.
Sir Simon and Gokhale also reconfirmed the commitment made by their respective prime ministers to encourage closer business, cultural and intellectual co-operation – so millions more are able to learn, travel, trade, create and thrive together.
