India Accorded 'Top Priority' By UK In 2014


LONDON: India-UK ties touched a new high in 2014 with British Premier David Cameron according "top priority" to India in UK's foreign policy and a series of high-level visits taking place to foster closer political and economic relations.

Cameron held his first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Australia ahead of the G20 Summit last month, strengthening the broad and deep ties that UK and India have. At their meeting, Cameron told Modi that "relations with India are at the top of the priorities of the UK's foreign policy."

Keen to foster closer links with the world's largest democracy, several senior ministerial delegations from the UK, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Business Minister Vince Cable, visited the country, reflecting the importance of India in the lead up to elections in Britain in May 2015.

It was during one such high-profile visit, by UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and the then foreign secretary William Hague, the UK government announced plans for a new statue of Mahatma Gandhi to be unveiled at Parliament Square in London.

The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Trust, headed by NRI economist Lord Meghnad Desai, has since been busy raising the nearly 750,000 pounds required for the nine-feet-tall sculpture to be inaugurated in early 2015.

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Source: PTI