New Delhi: India and the UK on Tuesday discussed ways to strengthen bilateral co-operation in counter-terrorism, policing, homeland security issues and key priorities in taking forward the enhanced partnership.
The issues were discussed by Jeremy Browne, UK Foreign Office Minister, who is in New Delhi on a two-day visit, during his meetings with Home Minister P Chidambarm and Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur.
Browne's visit is the latest in a series by British ministers and comes a few days after bilateral meetings between External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and his British counterpart William Hague in the UK last week.
Noting that the visit underlines the UK's strong andon-going commitment to build enhanced ties with India, a British High Commission release said Browne, in-charge of South Asia in British Foreign Office, met Chidambaram to discuss how to strengthen UK-India co-operation in counter-terrorism, policing and other homeland security issues.
He also met his ministerial counterpart in the MEA, Preneet Kaur, and discussed the key priorities in taking forward the UK-India enhanced partnership.
"As Minister for South Asia and for emerging powers, I am delighted to be in India. Like my ministerial colleagues before me, I am here to make my contribution to the enhanced partnership between the UK and India that Prime Ministers (David) Cameron and (Manmohan) Singh set out a year ago.
"Much has been achieved since then and much remains to be done. I am particularly pleased to be the first British Minister from the coalition to visit West Bengal," he said on his arrival in India.
During his stay, Brown will travel to West Bengal where he will Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in order to explore how the UK and West Bengal should best deepen their economic, commercial and scientific ties. He will explore this further with local Indian and British business executives.
He will also inaugurate the GOALZ programme under which the Kolkata Police, local football clubs, the English Premier League and the British Council support disadvantaged youths through sport, the release said.
"Deeper economic, commercial and scientific co-operation between the UK and West Bengal is an integral part of the stronger, wider, deeper relationship that Prime Minister Cameron described when in India last July," Brown said.
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