India – Britain's new “partner of choice”?
By Shayoni Sarkar
David Cameron is back in India, this time as Prime Minister of the UK. After Turkey, Mr. Cameron is in India with hopes to strengthen relations with the country that provides for more than 90,000 jobs in Britain through its firms.
“I want to see thousands more jobs created in Britain, and of course thousands more in India through trade in the months and years ahead.” said the Prime Minister. “This is the core purpose of my visit”
Accompanying Mr. Cameron on the trip are Business Secretary Vince Cable, Chancellor George Osborne and Foreign Secretary William Hague among other senior cabinet colleagues and several business executives.
Downing Street calls this the largest trade delegation in recent history. Mr. Vince Cable announced that the British government will allow the export of it's civil nuclear technology to India for the first time.
The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence have had previous reservations about this move, as India is not a part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Mr. Cable believes that British businesses “potentially could do a large amount of business in India” if this move comes through. This would also be useful in sharing British expertise, which might benefit India.
“There are obvious security sensitivities,” said Mr. Cable. “We are conscious of those, as are the Indians. But within those constraints we really want to push ahead with civil nuclear cooperation.”
The British government regards India as an important regional and economic partner in the drive to boost trade and investment.
However, in an article Mr. Cameron wrote for The Hindu, an Indian national daily, he says, “From the British perspective, it's clear why India matters. Most obviously, there is the dynamism of your economy. But your economy isn't the only reason India matters to Britain. There's also your democracy with its three million elected representatives — a beacon to our world...India is a source of strength to our world.”
At a speech at Infosys, the IT firm, in Bangalore, Mr. Cameron said that he was on a mission to create jobs in the UK. He also said that there was much more for India in a “new relationship” with the UK.
“This trip is a trade mission, yes, but I prefer to see it as a jobs mission,” said the Prime Minister.
Since it's formation, the new coalition has stressed the need to place economic cooperation and trade development at the heart of it's foreign policy, with an increased focus on growing economies such as Latin America and Asia.