India and the United Kingdom will launch a ‘Comprehensive Roadmap 2030’ to pave the way for additional expanding and deepening India-UK cooperation more than the next decade in a virtual summit involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British counterpart Boris Johnson on May 4, 2021. The MEA mentioned in a statement on Monday that the road map will cover 5 important locations, namely persons-to-persons relationship, trade and prosperity, defence and safety, climate action and healthcare. India and UK have been discussing a proposed bilateral free of charge trade agreement and enhanced trade partnership programme for a though now.
The virtual summit comes immediately after a scheduled meeting involving the two leaders for the duration of the check out of Boris Johnson to New Delhi in April was cancelled due to the present coronavirus scenario in India. In a response to media queries on Johnson’s check out, MEA had mentioned, “the two sides will be holding a virtual meeting in the coming days to launch plans for a transformed India-UK relationship. Both leaders attach the highest importance to taking the India-UK partnership to its fullest potential.”
The two nations delight in a strategic partnership given that 2004 marked by normal higher-level exchanges and expanding convergences in diverse locations. The road map will be an critical element of the summit which will be an chance to elevate the multi-faceted strategic ties and improve cooperation on regional and worldwide difficulties of mutual interest.
The MEA also mentioned that each leaders will also go over Covid-19 cooperation and the worldwide efforts to fight the pandemic. The depth of the partnership is reflected in UK’s solidarity in India’s battle against a resurgent second wave of coronavirus pandemic with dispatch of life-saving oxygen gear such as 495 oxygen concentrators and 200 ventilators which arrived in India last week.
The UK is sending 1,000 more ventilators to Indian hospitals to aid the most serious Covid circumstances and the National Health Service, England, is also establishing a clinical advisory group to help India’s Covid response which will work with Indian institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to share knowledge on managing Covid outbreaks.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar will be going to London from May 3-6, 2021, to participate in the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting, at which India has been invited as a guest nation. He will thereafter undertake a bilateral check out to the UK.