UK wants to increase investments in tech, infrastructure in India: Foreign secy Liz Truss

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, on Saturday, said that the United Kingdom was keen on increasing financial investments in India. In an online statement, Truss said that her country wanted to increase cooperation on projects with ‘reliable and honest finance”. Notably, the British lawmaker’s remarks came as she interacted with representatives from leading Indian banks, companies and VCs in the financial capital Mumbai. 

Truss, who serves as the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK, is currently in India as part of her two-day official visit. While bilateral cooperation in the field of tech has always been in focus, on Sunday, Truss said that she discussed increasing tech-related opportunities in the private sector. In addendum, the UK’s backing of infrastructure and finance through Build Back Better World was also brought to the table. 

Truss meets FM Sitharaman, EAM Jaishankar 

A day earlier, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held an in-person meeting with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in New Delhi. According to a press release, both the leaders discussed ‘mutual areas of interest’, including green energy, infrastructure, and the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP). It is imperative to note that under NMP, the finance ministry estimates aggregate monetisation potential of Rs 6.0 lakh crores through core assets of the Central Government from FY 2022 to FY 2025.

In a Twitter statement, the Indian Ministry of Finance asserted that the leaders jointly agreed to strengthen mutual ties through the Comprehensive Strategy Partnership adopted by the Prime Ministers of India and the UK in May 2021. The partnership is aimed at increasing collaboration in priority areas like technology and security.

Earlier on Friday, Truss also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi. During the meeting, both the ministers reviewed the Roadmap 2030 launched during the India-UK virtual summit in May. In addendum, they also discussed in detail other issues of mutual interest, including trade, people-to-people relationships, health partnership, climate change, science and innovation, and defence and security.

Image: trussliz/Twitter