Anti-immigration protests, activities by Khalistani extremists come up in Modi-Starmer meet

After the meeting between Modi and Starmer at Raj Bhavan on Thursday, Misri addressed a press meet. He was accompanied by Vikram Doraiswami, high commissioner of India to the UK, and Piyush Srivastav, additional secretary

MUMBAI: While trade was the focus of bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Keir Starmer, they also discussed regional and global issues. Key among them were setting up nine UK university campuses in India, anti-immigration protests in the UK and the way to strengthen film-cultural ties, said foreign secretary Vikram Misri.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI)

After the meeting between Modi and Starmer at Raj Bhavan on Thursday, Misri addressed a press meet. He was accompanied by Vikram Doraiswami, high commissioner of India to the UK, and Piyush Srivastav, additional secretary.

“We have been clear on our stand on illegal immigration – we do not support it, but at the same time, we are keen on legal mobility which is beneficial to communities of both countries. The issue of anti-immigration protests in the UK has to be addressed by UK authorities as it is a part of their internal dynamics. India will cooperate with the UK on the issue,” said Misri.

On the issue of the Gaza conflict, Misri said, India hopes that all prisoners and hostages will be released soon. “We have been in support of a dialogue between the stakeholders and are in favour of a two-state solution,” he said.

He added that while India had received support from the UK to gain a place as a permanent member of the UN security council, meetings between the two countries would continue over the next three to six months to resolve regional and sectoral issues, which act as barriers to trade. “There are issues related to government procurement, trade facilitation and rules of origin, which need to be examined,” said Misri.

The activities by Khalistani extremists first came up for discussion between the two PMs in July, which was flagged again on Thursday. “Prime Minister Modi emphasised that radicalism and violent extremism had no space in democratic societies. There is a need to move against extremism within legal frameworks available to both sides,” said Misri.

Misri said that under the National Education Policy, a silent revolution has been taking place, evidenced by nine leading UK universities, including University of Surrey, University of Lancaster and others giving approvals to operate their campuses in India. University of Surrey and Queen’s University of Belfast will be set up in Gift City, Gujarat; University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and University of York will come to Mumbai; while University of Liverpool and Lancaster University will set up their campuses in Bengaluru. The University of Southampton opened its first Indian campus in Gurugram, Haryana, on July 16, ahead of Modi’s visit to the UK. “Both the prime ministers engaged with the vice chancellors of nine UK universities to exchange their ideas,” he said.

Starmer’s present visit, he said, was a part of a two-headed engagement between India and the UK. “The first part was when Prime Minister Modi visited the UK in July this year when the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) was signed between the two countries. The UK PM’s present visit is a follow-up to that engagement,” he said.

On the matter of establishing India-UK Connectivity and Innovation Centre, India-UK Joint Centre for Artificial Intelligence and a critical minerals industry guild to secure resilient supply chains and promote green technology, he added, “Both countries have also agreed to launch Phase 2 of the UK-India Critical Minerals Supply Chain Observatory and establish a new satellite campus at IIT and the Indian School of Mines in Bangalore.”

“In the maritime domain, the two leaders welcomed progress made in establishing a regional maritime security centre of excellence to further our cooperation under India’s initiative of setting up the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative,” he said.

The Indian-origin community in the UK was referred by Prime Minister Modi as a “living bridge between the two countries, as he dwelled on ongoing collaboration under the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement, which is fostering people-to-people ties between the youth, students, exporters, innovators and industrialists”.