Britain's foreign Secretary attended a private dinner for 150 people organised by the Indian Journalists' Association to celebrate its 70 years (founded May 1947) as well as India's independence day on 15 August at St James's Court, a hotel owned by the Taj group in London. Britain's wealthiest families- Hindujas, Mittals, Tatas and Lalvanis came together to support this evening as a part-sponsor.
Speakers included IJA President Ashis Ray, Labour party representative at the dinner MP Stephen Pound, High Commissioner of India to UK His Excellency Y K Sinha and Chief Guest Boris Johnson.
Johnson, who is known as India's son in law with a wife (Marina) half Indian, spoke about teaming up with India to counter terrorism, exporting whisky and exchange of area specific expertise. He also spoke about various words in UK dictionary borrowed from India and added that Britain hopes to work with India to exercise influence over China on North Korea.
“Never mind what you are hearing from the White House”, he said. “But let’s focus on the real cause of the current crisis, when North Korea is recklessly and wantonly threatening its neighbours and those further afield with nuclear strikes. We stand shoulder to shoulder with India in our determination to ensure stability in the Asia Pacific region... In all those efforts to secure peace and security, the indispensable foundation of trade and prosperity... we are working ever more closely with India.”
Talking about the relationship with India, he emphasised, that the relationship is much more than just trade, interchange of goods and services. He added, “We are shoulder to shoulder with India in tackling the threat of extremism and terrorism.”
In the light of Brexit, while UK is looking forward to foster stronger relationship with India, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley did not promise much during his last visit to the UK. Senior figures in India have also expressed their concerns about the focus on boosting trade.But Johnson’s remarks mark a shift away from trade cooperation with India to a more holistic discussion of the Uk-Indo relationship.
Mr. Johnson also acknowledged factors that stood in the way of greater cooperation, including over visas, and student visas in particular.
High Commissioner Sinha said he hoped the countries would continue to work on increase cooperation on intelligence sharing, especially when it comes to combating terrorism.
Photo courtesy: Raj D Bakrania, PrMediapix
