‘Sunak govt seeks energetic, forward-leaning India ties’

On his first visit to India since he was re-appointed UK foreign secretary, James Cleverly spoke exclusively to TOI’s Sachin Parashar about the likely trajectory of bilateral ties under UK PM Rishi Sunak, India-UK FTA, counter-terrorism, Ukraine and security and defence ties in the Indo-Pacific region. Excerpts from the interview:

- Sachin Parashar

Indians are very excited about Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian ancestry, becoming the UK PM. Do you see the ties getting a boost or you believe the relationship could be saddled with unreasonable expectations? 

It’s been a long-standing policy of the British government to enhance what is already a strong partnership with India. Our Integrated Review talked about the Indo-Pacific tilt and that predates Rishi becoming the PM, and so this is a continuity of a piece of work by the UK government to build on the strong partnership that we already have with India. That said, it’s lovely to see how much excitement and enthusiasm there is about the British PM here in India. He spoke with PM Modi on Friday. This is my first visit after he appointed me as foreign secretary. We want to make sure this is a partnership which is forward-leaning and energetic.

You were in Mumbai for the UNSC meeting. What can Britain do to put more pressure on Pakistan to bring the 26/11 perpetrators to justice and what do you make of China’s efforts to block UN action against some of these individuals?