INDIA-UK Joint Statement Summit 2015
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THE UNITED KINGDOM VISIT

Highlights of PM Modi's Visit to United Kingdom

"Opening the Door to a Special Relationship"

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tour to the United Kingdom from November 12-14 was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in almost a decade. Prime Minister Modi's visit to UK aimed at consolidating ties and outlining a roadmap towards advancing partnership and deepening cooperation between the two countries.

The Royal Air Force marked the moment of Prime Minister Modi's arrival with a flypast in the Indian tri-colours, making India the first foreign country to have its flag colours flown in a British flypast. During the three day visit, Prime Minister Modi held talks with British Prime Minister, David Cameron, paid homage to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Parliament Square, addressed a distinguished group of parliamentarians and eminent persons at the iconic Royal Gallery in the British Parliament, becoming the first head of Indian government to do so; addressed the City of London at the symbolic Guidhall, interacted with the CEOs at the India-UK CEOs Forum, called on Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II unveiled the statue of Lord Basaveshwara, inaugurated the Ambedkar Memorial at the house where Dr B R Ambedkar lived while studying at LSE (London School of Economics) and visited Tata Jaguar Land Rover vehicle manufacturing unit in Solihull. In another first, the UK government offered to reinstate the law degree of the Indian freedom fighter Shyamji Krishna Verma who was debarred from practicing law at the Inner Temple for actively campaigning for India's independence from UK.

With a focus on the 3 Ds - Democracy, Demography and Demand and its movement towards E-entrepreneurship, the visit also saw commercial deals worth £9.3 bn being sealed and the two sides releasing a vision document that captured the essence of shared history and a natural partnership, poised to take giant strides forward.

The United Kingdom reaffirmed its continued support for India's permanent membership of an expanded UNSC and India's enhanced role in other international bodies and membership of International Export Control Regimes.

This book will take you through the highlights of the visit.

Joint Statement - India-UK Summit 2015

A Sustaining Partnership

Celebrating the growing strength, breadth and depth of the relations between the two countries, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Cameron emphasised that the enduring connect between the UK and India plays a vital role in safeguarding and promoting the security and prosperity of both the nations.

The two leaders endorsed a Vision Statement that outlined their ambitious and transformative vision for upgrading the unique India-UK relationship to a leading global partnership for sustainable progress, prosperity and security. The leaders resolved to agree on a new Defence and International Security Partnership which will intensify cooperation on defence and security, including cyber-security, counter-terrorism and maritime security.

The two sides agreed that climate change and promoting secure, affordable and sustainable supplies of energy were shared strategic priorities for India and the UK, and endorsed a Joint Statement on Energy and Climate Change.

They also agreed to scale up bilateral cooperation to a global partnership for development through a "Statement of Intent on Partnership for Cooperation in Third Countries". which will facilitate working together to benefit third country partners by assisting them in addressing their development challenges in a wholly demand driven manner.

Vision Statement - India-UK Summit 2015

Rejuvenating Ties

The two Prime Ministers noted that in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, deepening the already close partnership on global issues would be vital for safeguarding and promoting prosperity and security.

The substantive outcomes of the visit reflected in the five documents issued by the two leaders, are as follows :

Vision Statement

Towards consolidating the already robust ties between the world's oldest and largest democracies a vision of a special partnership was endorsed which would be further cemented by contribution of 1.5 million strong Indian Diaspora in Britain and Britain's participation in India's economic progress. The vision document released by the two sides encompassed the aspirations of two economies. It highlighted the uniqueness of ties that would continue to guide all the future engagements. While India seeks to take its 1.25 billion on the path of progress, the UK can sustain its economic rebalance and global leadership by contributing in the process.

Defence and International Security Partnership

The two sides agreed on forward-looking steps with the corresponding dialogue mechanisms to deepen collaboration in combating global threats and strengthening the rules-based international systems by enhancing defence collaboration, transfer of strategic capabilities, joint R & D in new areas and indigenous defence projects under Make in India, UK's strong advocacy of UN reforms and continued support for India's permanent membership of UNSC, joint effort to finalise CCIT(Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism),disrupt financial and tactical support for terrorist networks, strengthen cooperation in cyber and maritime security.

Partnership for Cooperation in Third Countries

It was announced to leverage the competencies of India and UK in a trilateral framework to assist developing countries in addressing their development challenges by capacity building in a range of sectors.

India-UK Joint Statement on Energy and Climate Change

This joint statement outlined collaborative initiatives to address the shared strategic challenges of climate change and access to sustainable energy for economic growth.

India-UK Joint Statement 2015

This comprehensive document outlines specific initiatives being taken to further deepen the partnership in a range of sectors such as Finance, Infrastructure, Science and Technology and Health, Education and Training as well as Culture.

At the Buckingham Palace :
Call on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In a special gesture usually reserved for Heads of State the Queen hosted
PM Modi for a luncheon banquet

   UK Welcomes Prime Minister Modi
   Bridging Worlds A Meeting of Minds: The Story of Indians in the United Kingdom

PM unveils Lord Basaveshwara Statue in UK

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PM unveils Lord Basaveshwara Statue in UK

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Gifts Exchanged

The Prime Minister presented the British Prime Minister a specially handcrafted pair of bookends made of wood, marble and silver.The centerpiece of each of these bookends is a silver bell, an object of rich symbolism relating to inner wisdom and tidings, which has a verse from the Bhagavad Gita etched in Sanskrit, along with its English meaning along the inside rim.
Taken from Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita, these verses (15-16) describe the ultimate underlying reality. Each bell has one verse etched on it :

Without all beings, yet within; immovable yet moving; so subtle that it cannot be perceived; so far yet so near It is. (Verse 15)
It is indivisible yet appears divided in all beings. Know it to be the creator, the preserver and the destroyer. (Verse 16)

In view of Prime Minister Cameron's fondness for Robert Graves' work on World War I Goodbye to All That, Prime Minister Modi also presented him David Omissi's Indian Voices of the Great War.

Prime Minister presented the First Lady, Aranmula metal mirror, a unique GI protected handicraft from Kerala, and some pashmina stoles.

Memorable Moments

What they Said

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