External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and the UK’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper held the first annual meeting in New Delhi yesterday to review India-UK Vision 2035. Both Ministers reviewed the progress made under all five pillars of the India-UK Vision 2035, including Growth, Technology and Innovation, Defence and Security, Climate and Clean Energy and Education.
The Ministers welcomed opportunities unlocked by the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA and looked forward to its early entry into force. They expressed satisfaction at the progress on various initiatives under the India-UK Technology Security Initiative, including in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and critical minerals. On Defence and Security, the Ministers welcomed the momentum and new developments, including the exchange of military instructors in each other’s training institutions.
The two Ministers agreed that Education continued to be one of the most successful pillars of bilateral cooperation and looked forward to the early convening of the first Ministerial Dialogue on Education. They recognised the importance of the India-UK climate partnership, including through the India-UK Climate Finance Initiative on green growth. Both Ministers agreed that strong people-to-people relations formed the bedrock of the partnership and noted the positive engagement on the Migration and Mobility Partnership. The Ministers also discussed regional and global issues of mutual importance and cooperation at multilateral platforms, including the Commonwealth.
There were key outcomes in the areas of education, critical minerals and maritime security during the visit. The Ministry of Education handed over the Letter of Approval to the University of Liverpool to open its Bengaluru campus. The Liverpool University campus in Bengaluru is expected to begin operations from the next academic year. The Memorandum of Understanding between King’s College London and the National Maritime Foundation to establish the Regional Maritime Security Centre for Excellence was also exchanged during the visit.
