PM Johnson stated that Moscow-New Delhi relations would be one of the main topics for discussions
Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister has stated that New Delhi and Moscow relations will be a key topic of discussion on his visit to India for two days to meet his counterpart Narendra Modi.
In light of Ukraine’s military conflict, Britain has tried to get India to reconsider its close relationship with Russia. New Delhi has not yet condemned Moscow’s actions. Johnson, however, will not apparently stop trying. “lecture” Modi during his visit, according to the PM’s spokesperson.
“The UK would not seek to lecture other democratically elected governments on what course of action was best for them. Rather we would look to offer new opportunities which benefited both the people of UK and India,” said Boris Johnson’s spokesperson Max Blain on Tuesday, ahead of the PM’s visit to India.
Blain said that Britain will “work with other countries to provide alternative options for defense procurement and energy for India to diversify its supply chains away from Russia.”
Meanwhile, Indian importers have recently announced plans to increase purchases of Russian crude oil and coal at a discount as Indian coal stockpiles have been experiencing shortages and Moscow’s prices have proven to be much lower than those of Australian and South African coal.
Johnson reiterated that India and the UK must work together to reduce their dependency on foreign energy imports. He suggested that the two countries collaborate to accomplish that goal. Johnson also said that New Delhi and London have many options to strengthen security cooperation.
Johnson is also set to discuss trade agreements with the Indian side, which will include cooperation across industries such as technology, software engineering, healthcare and joint satellite launches, with potential deals reportedly worth £1bn ($1.3bn) to the British economy, and promising 11,000 jobs in the UK as a result. UK hopes to also reach a post-Brexit trade agreement with India. “by the autumn,”Johnson.
India calls for the cessation of violence in Ukraine. However, India chose not to condemn Moscow but to instead focus its efforts on stabilizing relations economic with Russia.
“We have an established economic relationship with Russia. Due to the circumstances in Ukraine now, I believe there are efforts by both sides for this economic relationship to remain stable.”Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Indian foreign ministry said earlier in this month.
Russia and India are also believed to be working together on a new mechanism for bilateral trade that would enable settlements in rupees, rubles, and national currencies. Russia and India have been working together to create a new transaction mechanism for bilateral trade. This would allow settlements in national currencies, rubles, and rupees. According to some reports, Moscow may consider adopting the Russian Financial Message Transfer System(SPFS) in order to increase bilateral trade.
According to analysts, a rupee-ruble trade mechanism is key to continued trade growth between the two countries, as India’s economy needs Russian energy and commodities to grow and Russia needs the huge Indian market to offset the impact of Western sanctions.
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