UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will arrive in India on Friday for his first official trip to the South Asian country.
Cleverly will meet his Indian counterpart Dr S. Jaishankar and discuss strengthening the UK-India relationship, the UK Foreign Office said.
He will land in Mumbai on Friday to pay respects to those who lost their lives in the city’s terror attack at the Taj Palace Hotel in 2008. He will travel to New Delhi on Saturday.
“Our relationship with India is hugely important to me; as the world’s largest democracy, India is a natural partner for the UK in the Indo-Pacific. It is an economic and tech powerhouse,” Cleverly said. “Our deeper ties will boost both our economies and help to tackle global security challenges.”
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“I look forward to working even more closely with India when it takes up the G20 Presidency in December,” he added.
Cleverly is scheduled to speak at the Special Meeting of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee in Mumbai.
He will call on countries to work together to fight online terrorism – including global terror recruitment campaigns and live streaming of attacks, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
In New Delhi the Foreign Secretary is also due to meet India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr Jaishankar to discuss the latest on the 2030 Roadmap, the landmark commitment to boost cooperation between the UK and India over the next decade under a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Since it was launched last year, huge progress has been made, including the start of ambitious free trade negotiations, the expansion of our defence and security partnership, including through a visit to India last year by HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Carrier Strike Group (CSG), and joint exercises to enhance cyber security collaboration.
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