EAM Jaishankar meets with UK Home Secretary, signs agreement to 'facilitate legal travel'

Minister of External Affairs (MEA) Dr S Jaishankar on May 4 met with UK Home Secretary Priti Patel while he’s visiting London to participate in the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers meet. Patel and Jaishankar signed the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement to facilitate legal travel and encourage talent flows. Taking to Twitter, MEA not only posted images from the in-person meeting between both diplomats but also said that the agreement was an important outcome for the upcoming virtual summit between India and the UK. 

Jaishankar termed the meeting with British Home Secretary “fruitful.” In a separate tweet, EAM said “This is an important outcome for the India-U.K. Virtual Summit that is due to commence shortly.” 

Jaishankar is currently on a four-day visit to the UK from May 3 to 6 and has already met with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in London at the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting earlier today. Blinken and MEA discussed the COVID-19 crisis, vaccine production capacity and supply chains. Jaishankar also posted the images from that set and called Blinken an “old friend.”

EAM S Jaishankar To Join G7 Ministers Over Decisive Action

Further, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to meet the G7 (Group of Seven nations) ministers in London on the evening of May 4 (local time). In the first major in-person diplomatic gathering since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first gathering of G7 Foreign Ministers since 2019, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will lead discussions and Britain holds the rotatory presidency of the group. Jaishankar will join foreign ministers from G7 nations -  Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, US, UK and the European Union - and guest countries, including Australia, the Republic of Korea and South Africa and the Chair of ASEAN, in a bid to agree on decisive action on the most critical global issues such as threats to democracy. 

The ministers from leading democracies across the globe will be discussing geopolitical issues that threaten to undermine democracy, freedoms and human rights. They will also discuss relations with Russia, China and Iran as well as the crisis in Myanmar, the violence in Ethiopia and the ongoing war in Syria. 

Image credits: @DrSJaishankar/Twitter