India, Britain to take forward civil n-cooperation

Deepening their cooperation, India and Britain have decided to take forward consideration of an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.

This was agreed upon during Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai's London visit June 19-20, for the annual India-Britain Foreign Office Consultations.

Mathai held talks with his British counterpart, Permanent Under Secretary Simon Fraser.

Both sides recalled the understanding reached during British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to India in February 2013 and it was agreed to take forward consideration of an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation.

The British side reiterated their commitment to raising bilateral cooperation on high technologies to a new higher level and expressed support for India's membership of multilateral export control regimes, said a ministry of external affairs statement Friday.

The two sides also discussed cooperation in higher education, scientific research energy and health sector. Both sides emphasised the importance of people to people contacts.

Both sides also reviewed the progress made on major economic and commercial issues including the joint feasibility study for the Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor.

The two sides also underscored the importance of their ongoing cooperation in counter-terrorism and cyber security and looked forward to the next round of senior expert level bilateral dialogues in these areas of shared concern.

Both held talks the situation in India's neighbourhood, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, Middle-East/West Asia and East Asia.

Mathai also called on National Security Adviser Kim Darroch and Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire.