EAM Jaishankar and UK Foreign Secretary Lammy Focus on Strategic Partnership
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy held discussions on enhancing the strategic partnership between their countries. This meeting was part of India's top diplomat's ongoing engagements with leaders during the General Assembly's high-level session. EAM Jaishankar wrote on X after their meeting, "Carried forward our conversations on strengthening the India-Britain Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP)" and "also discussed the conflict in Ukraine".
The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) spans various sectors, such as trade and investment, defence and security, technology, science, innovation, and people-to-people connections. It is further supported by a 2030 roadmap aimed at achieving key objectives, including enhanced security in the Indian Ocean Region and the Indo-Pacific. EAM Jaishankar held formal sit-down meetings with some leaders and brief interactions with others in the busy halls of the UN building, filled with leaders from different levels.
He shared on X that he and Belgium's Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, discussed collaboration in manufacturing and technology, as well as exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine. He also met with Foreign Ministers Giorgos Gerapetritis of Greece and Ahmed Fiqi of Somalia, both from nations set to join the Security Council as elected members.
The Indian External Affairs Minister posted on X that with Giorgos, "our conversation was focused on shipping, energy, mobility, connectivity, and defence". His talks with Fiqi focused on enhancing our cooperation in health, education, training and capacity building, EAM Jaishankar said on X.
He also had a brief interaction with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, which had faced criticism during his remarks at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting. Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, described his meeting with EAM Jaishankar as 'fruitful' on X, stating that they reviewed "the excellent state of bilateral relations". "I reiterated Cuba's interest in continuing to expand economic-commercial and cooperation ties", he added.
EAM Jaishankar was more specific, writing on X, "Discussed our cooperation in health and food security, as well as in training and capacity development". He described his meeting with Switzerland Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis as a "good to follow-up" to their recent meeting in Geneva.
During the meeting, they focused on utilizing the Free Trade Agreement between India and the EFTA states (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) to enhance trade and investment, as stated by the External Affairs Ministry. Additionally, EAM Jaishankar met with several key figures, including Deputy UN Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Murat Nurtleu, and the Foreign Ministers Cho Tae-yul of South Korea and Nasser Bourita of Morocco.
