prizePrime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United Kingdom from November 12 to 14 has once again reinstated India’s image as a business friendly destination. Narendra Modi and David Cameron shared the stage together in what turned out to be the biggest jamboree of Indians abroad. A massive defeat in Bihar and a massive assault on the government by the main stream media, on the grounds of growing intolerance in the country had created a perception abroad that perhaps India is not the rights place to do business. Prime Minister Modi’s visit to UK change all that.
Narendra Modi and David Cameron make good strategic partners together.
By signing Deals worth over 9 billion pounds ($13.7 billion), Modi has managed to change the trajectory of a relationship which was seemingly headed nowhere before this visit. Joint statement by Narendra Modi and David Cameron on Cyber Security and Terrorism is also a welcome sign. Negotiations have also been concluded over a civil nuclear deal that seeks to increase bilateral cooperation in the field of civil and military technology and nuclear research projects. Cooperation between the 2 countries has been increased in Health, Energy, Retail, finance, IT, education and energy sectors. The most important deals that were signed during this visit were
Narendra Modi and David Cameron make good strategic partners together.
-Vodafone to invest £1.3 billion in upgrading and expanding its network in India; creating new tech centers in Pune and Hyderabad and creating new data centers and a new payment bank
-Light Source to invest £2 billion in India to design and manage 3GW of solar power over next five years which will lead to creating 300 jobs in India as well as 300 in Britain
-Intelligent Energy – signed a £1.2 billion contract to provide clean energy to 27,400 telecoms towers in India and towards the deployment of hydrogen fuel cell power
-King’s College Hospitals Foundation Trust and Indo-UK Healthcare to set up a hospital in Chandigarh. This will be the first of 11 new India-UK hospitals in India. Over a period the deal will be worth £1 billion investment into Indian healthcare
-Yes Bank and London Stock Exchange (LSE) signed a bond and equity issuance deal in green infrastructure finance and have future plans to issue a green bond to the tune of £300 million
Narendra Modi and David Cameron make good strategic partners together.
David Cameron in his 1st term made serious efforts to upgrade Indo-UK ties and take the relationship to next level, India was a priority partner for David Cameron’ s government. The UPA ignorant attitude to the Indo-UK relationship has led to UK paying more attention to upgrading its ties with more willing partners like China & Middle eastern countries, during the recent visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping deals worth 40 Billion pounds were signed including a pact to build Nuclear power plant in UK. UK is trying to position itself as the best European partner for the emerging economies of Asia.
Narendra Modi and David Cameron make good strategic partners together.
Both Narendra Modi and David Cameron are trying to change the traditional approach they take towards each other. In Westminster the traditional view towards India has always been of a South Asian entity that was once a part of the British Empire & must be dealt while keeping Pakistan in Mind. India is also at fault here, while all big powers were given their due attention New Delhi never made any serious attempt to upgrade its ties with UK, in the corridors of power in New Delhi UK has often been regarded as the 51st state of USA, this may have been true in the era of Tony Blair but during the premiership David Cameron ‘s UK has taken many major policy decisions which have been completely different from that of USA’s, the most important of them all, UK joining the Chinese lead AIIB(Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank).
Narendra Modi and David Cameron make good strategic partners together.
David Cameron wants UK to be an active partner in the Indian success story. India should recognize that with British help and partnership,programs like Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Smart cities would truly be a success. India should partner with UK in sectors where British expertise is still unmatched Aerospace, Education, Infrastructure, High technology areas and not to forget the Britain’s military Industrial Complex which is still one of the most advanced in the world. India should keep these things in mind while forging a better partnership with Britain. Britain is very keen to build a vibrant partnership with New Delhi and New Delhi needs to be equally receptive of Britain’s efforts.
Featured Image Credits: thehindu.com