You can't talk about the Indo Pacific without talking about India. First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab thinks that “India's only one bit of that picture. But a very important one, probably the single biggest bilateral elements of that strategic pivot, we call it the Indo Pacific tilt, if you like, what are we doing about that in practice, while I was there, in India, in Delhi, but also Bangalore in December, the Prime Minister has been desperate to get out where he will go this year. But of course, because of the pandemic, we've had to put it on hold a couple of times.”
In a virtual event with Conservative Friends of India, Raab addressed the most heated topics, one at a time.
India on redlist
Asian Voice asked Raab how India being on UK's red list would impact businesses and the UK-India partnership. He said, “In terms of the red listing, obviously, the short answer is we want to go to the red list for as limited a time as possible. And obviously, we got to protect the UK, the vaccine rollout and the health and welfare of people in this country. But, we also know that we need and we want the links that we've got within Germany, other countries around the world." So hopefully he thinks that this will be the status quo for a short period of time.
"I think the big question we've got in the UK right now is we've made exceptional progress with the vaccine rollout, we’re just still getting the evidence back on the impact of the vaccine rollout has had on the risk for the variants. And once we know that, we'll be more sure-footed in terms of going forward both in the domestic easing of restrictions and also what we do internationally. I do think it's right to take a careful approach," he told the newsweekly.
Enhanced Trade Partnership
“We're only the fourth country to be given comprehensive strategic partnership status by the top of the US, Australia, Russia, which gives you a sense of our level of ambition. There's an enhanced trade partnership, some low hanging fruits that we've agreed early on in relation to tariffs and long term access to trade.
“There's some direct stuff that we're doing right now, we've got an arrangement for the Serum Institute, which invests in life sciences in the UK, New Zealand, the big pharmaceutical and Public Health Organisation in India, which is rolling out and we manufacture the vaccine at pace for our Indian friends.”
Global points-based system
“The UK and India are very compatible in lots of interesting ways, including r&d in the tech space. So India, for me, is a tech democratic superpower. That makes it particularly exciting, both in terms of our values, but also our interests. And there's huge scope. So that's a big part of the trade piece. It's not just about trade. We have also got the mobility and migration partnership, I think the standout bit for me is a provision for young professionals from India to come to the UK and the UK to go to India. I guess it dovetails with our global points-based system."
UK-India health partnership
“India's got an incredible health sector and lots of r&d, and they really struggled with a pandemic as we have. We've offered everything from ventilators to oxygen compressors, concentrators, I'm in constant touch with Indian EAM Jaishanker, and if there's something they need from Britain, as their friends, we will, of course, do it more broadly. It's clearly a tech and life science collaboration."
On India’s contribution to G7
“The relationship between the UK Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi is very strong. So I think there's just this great opportunity to now start doing it. But rather than having a grandmaster plan beyond the roadmap, which I think is pretty detailed, I want to do it along the way, and then keep doing the bits that were really affected that shore up the bits that were not so good, and do what works. And that's the way I tend to approach these things.”
On Brexit
“With Indian young professionals, we can do it. And so I think it's actually it's a positive opportunity. We do want to control our immigration policies. But that's also the way that we can craft them to best reflect the interests and demographic mix of our country.”
On immigration
“That we've just gone through an economic contraction, the largest that we've seen in 300 years budget deficit double what we saw at the 2008-2009 crisis, I think if we weren't reviewing all aspects of our spend both domestic but also, international, I think would be criticised roundly, for doing that. It's not that we wanted to take this decision, we're being forced by circumstances to take in terms of British Nationals abroad, British nationals and British dual nationals, we've got all sorts of issues all around the world. You know, we've got a great constable department in from an office says I raised them all around the world.
“And actually, in relation to India, where we've got concerns on either side, we've grown up, we've got the depth of maturity of our relationship where we can have those conversations. So we don't shy away from them. And I've always been very clear about that.”
Should Britons learn about their history?
“In terms of British history, I've studied it at GCSE and a level and I love my history. Do I know everything? Almost certainly. Do I learn things every time I go abroad? Yes. And I go there with that spirit and openness. Am I proud of our history? Yeah, absolutely.
“If you're the son of a refugee from the Holocaust, you look at this country with economic opportunity and political tolerance. And you think, good lord, but for the grace of God, does that mean I think that we got things perfectly right, according to our history, last 500 years?
“No. I think there's a risk. By the way, should we think more broadly about the shared history with the Commonwealth? Yes, absolutely. And in other parts of the world, but I just say this, the airbrush culture that says, or the cancelled culture that says that, if you've got stains or black marks on your history, you can't nevertheless look at it around and be proud of it. I think it s profoundly, morally, socially and culturally wrong. If we do that, we go down that track, every generation will look back and find something that allows them to rubbish it.
“I think the right attitude to have is to keep eyes wide open, to be proud of the bits that we're proud of, we've got an enormous amount to be proud of, to be open and honest about the bits that we're not so proud of, but also fundamentally, constantly want to do better. That's the British way.”
