We want to see India taking its rightful place in UN Security Council: UK Prime Minister

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 9 : British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has backed India getting a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

"We sit together in the Commonwealth, G20, and we want to see India taking its rightful place in the UN Security Council," Starmer said after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The joint statement issued after the meeting said that the Prime Ministers reiterated their shared commitment to global peace, prosperity and a rules-based international order.

"They agreed to work closely in promoting reformed multilateralism, including reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The UK reiterated its long-standing support for India's legitimate aspirations for permanent membership in a reformed UNSC," it said.

Answering queries during a special media briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also spoke of the UK's support for India getting a permanent UNSC seat.

"We have received support from the United Kingdom insofar as our objective to gain a place as a permanent member on a reconstituted and reformed UN Security Council is concerned. The UK has been on the record on several occasions in the past as well, and we very much welcome and appreciate that support," he said.

Misri said trade and investment were among the focus areas during the visit.

"The Free Trade Agreement that was signed in July is now undergoing the process of ratification in both the countries and both leaders remarked on, while even as this process is going on, how excited the trade, business and investment communities in the two countries are at the prospects of the full implementation of this agreement. Much of the time yesterday between the business leaders of the two countries was spent on making plans for future investment, future trade cooperation between the two sides," he said.

"This visit has given both sides the opportunity to discuss deepening their strategic economic engagement in order to derive the full benefits from tariff reduction under the FTA," he added.

The first meeting of the reconstituted India-UK CEOs Forum took place on Thursday.

Yesterday, the UK Secretary of State for Trade and Investment Business and Trade and the Indian Commerce and Industries Minister took stock of the trade and investment relationship between the two countries and also had discussions on the Joint Economic and Trade Committee, which has been reconstituted and will reset and determine the long-term India-UK trade and investment relationship. This joint economic and trade committee will also support the implementation of the India-UK FTA," Misri said.

He said the leaders also announced new joint investments to boost the Climate Technology Startup Fund for supporting entrepreneurs in sectors of climate technology and Artificial Intelligence and this will also help in supporting the FTA chapter on innovation which also ties in with some of the initiatives that we are discussing under the Technology Security Initiative.

Misri said technology and innovation was the second major focus area.

"This is a very important pillar of the bilateral relationship. You would be aware that during Prime Minister's visit, the progress that was made on this particular pillar and under TSI. Major announcements have been made during the ongoing visit with regard to the establishment of the India-UK Connectivity and Innovation Centre, the India-UK Joint Centre for Artificial Intelligence and a Critical Minerals Industry Guild to secure resilient supply chains and promote green technologies," he said.

Both sides also agreed to launch phase two of the UK-India Critical Minerals Supply Chain Observatory and establishing a new satellite campus at IIT, the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad.

The two leaders discussed increasing collaboration in the education sector between the two countries.

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