INDIA and UK discussed defence and counter-terrorism on Thursday (November 8) and agreed to hold bi-annual talks to tackle cyber crime.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and his British counterpart William Hague, who held comprehensive delegation-level talks, also deliberated upon the security situation in the region, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The two sides reviewed progress made to strengthen civil nuclear energy cooperation, both commercially and through their institutions.
The volatile situation in Syria also came up during the talks, with both sides expressing readiness to support the efforts for peaceful resolution to the crisis there.
The two sides also decided to enhance cooperation in the area of cyber security and agreed to conduct their Cyber Dialogue on a bi-annual basis.
At a joint press conference here, the two leaders spoke about the situation in the region while underlining the importance of closer contacts between the two countries.
Hague said, “We greatly value India’s counsel and cooperation” on issues relating to Afghanistan and India’s neighbourhood.
The UK looks “forward to the time when India will have a permanent seat in the UN Security
Council and we also support India’s membership for international export control regimes.”
Hague added that the two sides had reviewed the progress made to strengthen bilateral civil nuclear cooperation, both commercially and through their institutions.
He also mentioned the recent decision of his country to re-engage with Gujarat, saying it will offer the UK the chance to strengthen its ties across the breadth of India.
Hague said Indo-UK economic ties have grown substantially over the past decade and the aim was to double it by 2015.
