Rajnath Singh Calls On British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak In London

London, January 11 (TNA) Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh called on the Prime Minister of United Kingdom Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street, London on Wednesday. Singh highlighted that both nations have made significant strides in moulding and recrafting the historic ties into a modern, multifaceted and mutually beneficial partnership, under the direction of the leaders of both the countries.

The minister recalled the recent enhancement in bilateral defence engagement, spanning joint exercises, training, capability building, increased interoperability, military-to-military ties especially in the maritime domain.

He emphasised the ongoing efforts to enhance defence industrial cooperation, including in the technology domain. He briefed Rishi Sunak about his positive interactions with the UK defence industry and the new positive energy in the bilateral defence relationship.

Rajnath Singh further stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading the quest of 1.4 billion Indians towards the national objective of becoming a developed country by mid-21st century.

Prime Minister Modi’s efforts have borne remarkable fruits, growth is sustainably on the upswing, poverty has been reduced drastically, and a business friendly architecture has been put in place. At the international level, the Government of India is ready to partner with friends like the UK to strengthen the rule-based world order.

Prime Minister Sunak fully agreed with the Raksha Mantri on the need for UK and India to work in the domains of trade, defence and technology. In particular, he expressed hope that the ongoing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations could be brought to a successful conclusion soon.

He also underlined his keenness, and that of his Government, to strengthen the defence and security pillar of the bilateral relationship, including through Government backing for stronger business and technology partnerships with Indian counterpart entities.