Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, External affairs minister on Tuesday, October 25 received a call from UK Foreign minister James Cleverly where both the leaders discussed Ukraine conflict and bilateral relations. The talks come against the backdrop of the UNSC, which is set to hold a meeting over the topic of Ukraine’s ‘dirty bomb’ threat.
S Jaishankar’s and James Cleverly’s discussion on bilateral relations
S Jaishankar said through a tweet that he received a call from UK secretary and his British counterpart James Cleverly and they had a discussion on bilateral relations, counter-terrorism and the fallout of the Ukraine conflict soon after Rishi Sunak becomes the United Kingdom prime minister on Tuesday. However, no official readout was there on the conversation from both sides.
The two ministers, S Jaishankar and James Cleverly, discussed how the UK will be challenging Russia’s allegations and rhetoric about the Russia-Ukraine crisis” at an forthcoming meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), said Cleverly via tweet.
The remarks were an evident reference to the UNSC that is anticipated to take up Russia’s claims about plan of Ukraine of having a so-called “dirty bomb”. All the officials from the UK, the United States and other Western countries have already denied the claims as a “Russian false-flag operation”.
A “dirty bomb” is a conventional bomb laced with biological, radioactive or chemical materials diffused in an explosion. The term is often used similarly with radiological dispersal device (RDD), a bomb where there is a use of radioactive materials.
The US, France and Britain, three of the other nuclear powers on the United Nations Security Council in a joint statement, said on Sunday that Russia’s claims were “transparently false”. Also that they and Kyiv suspect that Russia in a “false flag” attack might use a dirty bomb, possibly to justify there use of conventional nuclear weapons by Moscow as it sees itself on the back foot in southern and eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military asserts Russian forces are preparing themselves for a “potential retreat” near a key river that lies in Kherson as Moscow-installed leaders of the southern region step up their evacuation efforts in answer to Kyiv’s developing counter-offensive.
After former home secretary Suella Braverman’s comments about a planned bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) provoking more immigration from India didn’t go down well in New Delhi, Cleverly was the only one among the British leaders who possess stronger relations with India.
Earlier this month Cleverly said,“We do want to have stronger, and it’s strong already now, but a stronger trading connection with India”.
UK high commissioner Alex Ellis: “We want to double trade before 2030”
Concurrently, on Tuesday, UK high commissioner Alex Ellis said that Sunak had made it very clear that the economy will be the first priority during his premiership. “India and the UK both are really great investors for each other. We want to double trade before 2030,” he told a news agency.
“A free trade agreement is what we call an amazing way of doing that. It’s a long route to reach the FTA, we’ve walked along the foothills, gone up the valley, made it to base camp and now we just need to do this sharp and short ascent and I think both countries are very determined to reach the summit,” Ellis said.
The British envoy admitted that it “takes two to tango” and said, “Negotiations had been going tough for under a year. It’s a brief time for free trade agreements but inside there’s also a prize, which is the reinforcing of growth and employment in both countries. I think that’s the ultimate aim of both the prime ministers”.
Boris Johnson, former UK prime minister, had set a target to resolve the trade deal by Diwali, which was celebrated on Monday, October 24. People who are aware and familiar with the matter have said that the FTA is likely to be ended next year because of variations in key areas such as the mobility of students and professionals and automobiles.
Ellis also outlined the election of Britain’s first Indian origin prime minister as a “historic moment”. “It’s a big day for the UK. We have our new PM. He’s young, He’s Hindu, His grandparents migrated from India and his parents from East Africa. It’s a sign of a comparatively different UK to the country in which I grew old,” he said.
“India-UK relations have been developing very fast and deepening since we left the European Union. We’ll see what actually happens while we still expect this government to seek the same course,” he added.
Read more: Rishi Sunak to become first Indian-origin Prime Minister of UK
