India, UK agree to boost Indo-Pacific cooperation

India and the United Kingdom on Friday agreed to increase their collaboration in the fields of Indo-Pacific cooperation, climate change, disaster resilience, development in third world countries amongst other areas.

The two countries held Foreign Office consultations, where the Indian side was led by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and the UK side was represented by Sir Simon McDonald, Permanent Under-Secretary, Foreign and Commonwealth Office of British Government, according to a statement by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"The consultations provided an opportunity to review the entire range of bilateral relations, including political, economic, commercial, scientific, regional and international cooperation, including Commonwealth," it added.

Both sides expressed satisfaction on the level of political exchanges and decided to further intensify them in the coming months, the statement noted.

The instrument of ratification of the UK joining the International Solar Alliance was formally handed over during the consultations.