HIGH COMMISSION OF INDIA, LONDON
PRESS RELEASE NOVEMBER 15, 2000
MEETING OF SHRI JASWANT SINGH, MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS WITH THE PRESS ON CONCLUSION OF INDO-UK BILATERAL TALKS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2000 AT 1700 HRS.
I have today concluded very fruitful discussions with the Government of the United Kingdom, which included a two-hour meeting with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and a luncheon meeting with the Defence Secretary.
My visit to UK is in response to an official invitation from the Government of United Kingdom. It is part of the process of regular Foreign Office consultations. My counterpart the Rt. Hon’ble Robin Cook had visited India in April this year. Since then, we have received several other dignitaries from the United Kingdom, including the Home Secretary Mr. Jack Straw and the Minister for e-commerce and Information Technology Ms. Patricia Hewitt. We are also looking forward to receiving Minister of State in the FCO Mr. Peter Hain and Defence Secretary Mr. Geoffrey Hoon in the near future.
From the Indian side, our Minister of Commerce and Industry, the Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Defence Minister and the Minister of State in the External Affairs Ministry have visited the United Kingdom during the last few months.
These visits have imparted a much greater depth to our bilateral relations. The current phrase of Indo-UK ties has been characterised as ‘the best ever’ by Robin Cook, Secretary of State, FCO. I wish to mention that last year, the Labour Party had set up the Labour Friends of India Parliamentary Group, which already has more than 100 members. As part of its efforts to provide its members with a first-hand perspective of India, this group has arranged the visits of two parliamentary delegations to India during the current year. The Liberal Democrat Party, at its Annual convention at Bournemouth in September, formally launched the Lib-Dem Friends of India Group in the presence of about 75 MPs, MEPs and senior party leaders. Mr. William Hague, Leader of the Conservative Party has also announced the decision of his party to set up a similar Conservative Friends of India Group during the party’s annual conference in October. I must acknowledge the contribution for the emergence of these groups made by the Indian community in UK. They have taken upon themselves the responsibility of ensuring that there is broad-based support for closer ties between India and UK.
The other major development in our bilateral ties is the creation of the Indo-UK Round Table, which was set up during the visit of Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook in April. After its inaugural meeting in India, the second Round Table was held in London in October. Under the joint Chairmanship of Shri K.C.Pant and Lord Swaraj Paul, this Round Table has made several important proposals for strengthening bilateral ties, particularly, in areas of Commerce, Education and Information Technology.
My current visit, therefore, takes place in the context of these interactions. On Monday, November 13, Dr Colin Lucas, Vice Chancellor of University of Oxford and I were able to formally launch the Professorship of Indian History and culture at the Oxford University.
During my discussions with Ministers Robin Cook and Geoffrey Hoon today, we reviewed the current state of our bilateral relations. We agreed that the current momentum of our relations must be sustained through continuing high-level visits and a further strengthening of the relationship at the political level. We also assessed the progress made by the Indo-UK Round Table following its first two sessions.
We discussed a wide range of regional issues which are of interest to both countries. I had the opportunity to share with my British counterparts our concern over the encouragement and external abetment to cross-border terrorism. We agreed on the need to continue our fight against this scourge.
We reviewed the various proposals currently under discussion for reform of the United Nations and expansion of the United Nations Security Council. I reiterated the strength of India’s claim in our discussions today.
Within the framework of our membership of the Commonwealth, we have also reviewed the situation in Fiji and in Pakistan. In Fiji, we believe that any move to accommodate the demands being made by the interim government for scrapping the 1997 Constitution would tantamount to accepting a new form of apartheid. The international community must continue to press for the restoration of democracy and the retention of the 1997 Constitution. We also discussed the progress made by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) with regard to the developments in Pakistan.
On the economic side, we noted with satisfaction that bilateral trade between India and UK has increased by 33 per cent during the period January to July 2000 as compared to the same period last year. At this rate, the annual figure should reach £ 4 billion for the full year, and is on course to meet the target of £ 5 billion for 2001.
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Press Release No. 75/2000 November 15, 2000