Can't let extremists exploit democracy, Modi tells UK PM Starmer; raises the issue of Khalistanis
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday raised with his UK counterpart Keir Starmer, the issue of Khalistani extremists urging him to act against "extremist ideology" that "misuse democratic freedoms to undermine democracy".Speaking in London after the landmark FTA was signed, Modi said, "We express gratitude to PM Starmer and his Government for strongly condemning the Pahalgam terror attack . We are united in the belief that there is no place for double standards in the fight against terrorism.""We also agree that elements with extremist ideology can't be allowed to misuse democratic freedom. Those who misuse democratic freedoms to undermine democracy itself, must be held to account," the PM pointed out in reference to Khalistani extremists operating out of UK soil.On extradition from the UK, Modi said, "Regarding the extradition of economic offenders, our agencies will work with coordination and cooperation."New Delhi is continuing to "make the case" for the extradition of fugitives Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi, and Vijay Mallya from the UK as part of ongoing efforts to secure their return to face legal action in India.Modi and Starmer endorsed the new ' India-UK Vision 2035 ' roadmap that reaffirms their shared commitment to unlocking the full potential of a revitalised partnership.Implementation of this vision document will be reviewed annually by India's external affairs minister and UK's foreign secretary. The focused ministerial mechanisms will address cross sectoral issues including technology, trade, investment, and financial sector cooperation.As part of the plan, the two sides decided to promote strategic and defence industry collaboration through the adoption of a 10-year defence industrial roadmap and a joint mechanism at senior-official level to monitor its implementation and progress.They also decided to deepen collaboration in advanced technologies and complex weapons.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
36 minutes ago
- India Today
PM Modi, Amit Shah meet President amid Parliament logjam, Veep election announcement
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday. While the official agenda of the meeting has not been disclosed, the high-level engagement is seen as politically after PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also called on President Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 3. The unexpected nature of Shah's meeting has sparked speculation and stirred political activity in the meetings come at a time when the process for electing the next Vice President has formally begun. The Election Commission announced the schedule for the Vice President election on August 1, with voting to be held on September 9. Meanwhile, tensions continue in Parliament over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of the Election Commission in Bihar. Opposition parties are demanding a debate on the issue, but the government's reluctance has led to disruptions in the House to the geopolitical backdrop, the meetings follow US President Donald Trump's recent announcement of a 25% tariff on Indian goods, along with proposed penalties over India's continued defense and energy engagements with Modi had previously met President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on July 16, before the start of the monsoon session of the precise reasons behind Sunday's meetings remain undisclosed, the timing has raised eyebrows across political and diplomatic circles.- EndsMust Watch
India Today
38 minutes ago
- India Today
Not acceptable: Top Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia's war in Ukraine
A top aide to US President Donald Trump criticised India for buying Russian oil, accusing the country of indirectly funding Russia's war in Ukraine. This comes as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on nations that continue purchasing oil from Miller, one of Trump's most influential advisors, said that Trump clearly believes India should stop buying Russian oil. "What he (Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing oil from Russia," Miller said on Sunday Morning seemed surprised at the scale of India's oil trade with Russia. On Fox News, he said, "People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That's an astonishing fact." Despite the US pressure, India has shown no sign of stopping its purchases. According to the news agency Reuters, Indian government sources said they will continue to import oil from Miller tempered his criticism by noting Trump's relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he described as "tremendous."TRUMP SLAPS TARIFFS ON INDIAOn July 30, Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods and warned of potential penalties over India's purchase of Russian arms and oil. Immediately after the tariff announcement, Trump launched a blistering attack on New Delhi's ties with Moscow, dismissing both countries as "dead economies" and bluntly stating that he "does not care" what India does with has said he would consider imposing steep tariffs -- as high as 100% -- on imports from any country that continues to purchase oil from Russia unless Russia agrees to peace deal with TRADE WITH MOSCOW POINT OF IRRITATION: RUBIOWhile US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also criticised India's growing ties with Moscow. He called India a "strategic partner" but said its ongoing oil trade with Russia is a "point of irritation" in US-India imports of Russian oil have grown rapidly over the past few years. According to Reuters, before the Ukraine war in 2021, only 3% of India's oil came from Russia. That number has now jumped to between 35% and 40% of its total oil imports.- EndsWith inputs from Agencies Must Watch
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Another slip up by India in the trade pact with the U.K.
The India-United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) raises several questions regarding India's commitments in the CETA's intellectual property chapter (Chapter 13). A problematic article in this chapter is Article 13.6, 'Understandings Regarding TRIPS and Public Health Measures', in particular its first paragraph: 'The Parties recognise the preferable and optimal route to promote and ensure access to medicines is through voluntary mechanisms, such as voluntary licensing which may include technology transfer on mutually agreed terms' ( India's agreeing to this provision would result in dilution of its position on two critical issues. First, India consistently backed the use of compulsory licensing as opposed to voluntary licensing, to address high prices of patented medicines. Second, India argued that advanced countries must transfer technologies to developing countries on 'favourable terms', for their industrialisation, and also for reducing their carbon footprints. EXPLAINED | What does the new U.K.-India trade deal entail? Issue of pricing High prices of patented medicines are a serious anomaly of the patent system, due to excessive rent-seeking by patentees. Compulsory licensing of patented medicines can vastly improve the affordability of high-priced medicines by facilitating the production of such medicines. This was experienced following the grant of compulsory licence to Natco Pharma in 2012 for producing an anti-cancer medicine, sorafenib tosylate. The price came down to less than ₹8,800 for a month's treatment, from the ₹2,80,428 charged by the owner of the patent on the medicine, Bayer Corporation ( For remedying such instances of excessive rent-seeking, India's law-makers included compulsory licensing as a key safeguard while amending the Patents Act to make it compatible with the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Both Houses of the Parliament unanimously adopted this legislation after a Joint Parliamentary Committee had carefully considered its provisions ( Also Read | India, U.K. sign trade deal, PMs launch new partnership framework Grant of compulsory licence India's TRIPS-consistent Patents Act allows grant of compulsory licence to anyone interested in producing a patented product in India, three years after the grant of a patent. This licence can be granted if: reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the patented invention are not satisfied; or the patented invention is not available to the public at reasonably affordable price, or the patented invention is not 'worked' in the territory of India, implying, it has not been commercially exploited in the country ( Patent rules monitor 'working' requirement and, accordingly, patentees must submit the working status of their inventions. They had to do so annually until this requirement was diluted through India's FTA with the European Free Trade Association, with India agreeing that the periodicity of reporting 'shall not be less than 3 years' ( This dilution, has now been reinforced through the CETA, and it takes away an important ground for issuing compulsory licences. By backing voluntary licensing to address the problem of access to medicines, India has, de facto, given up its position as a strong votary of compulsory licensing in the WTO. A coalition of developing countries, including India earned the right to issue compulsory licences through the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health in 2001, despite strident opposition from advanced countries. The Declaration emphasised, 'each Member has the right to grant compulsory licences and the freedom to determine the grounds upon which such licences are granted' ( Voluntary licences cannot ensure access to affordable medicines due to the weak bargaining position of domestic companies in developing countries vis-à-vis dominant pharmaceutical corporations. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a medical humanitarian organisation, observed that using the terms of voluntary licences, pharmaceutical corporations can set various limitations, including to control the supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients, besides imposing restrictions on licensees. Therefore, options for getting affordable access are compromised when voluntary licences are used ( The MSF's observations were proven when Cipla produced the anti-COVID drug, remdesivir, in India under a voluntary licence from Gilead Sciences, the owner of the patent on the medicine. The price of remdesivir fixed by Cipla for India was, in purchasing power terms, higher than that Gilead had charged in the United States. COMMENT | The India-U.K. FTA spells a poor deal for public health India's demand will be affected The CETA undermines India's demand for technology transfer 'on favourable terms' in several multilateral forums. This demand was first made through the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the New International Economic Order (NIEO) in 1974. A key aspect of the NIEO was the call for facilitated technology transfer from advanced to developing countries to promote the industrialisation efforts of the developing countries ( However, despite their best efforts, little progress was seen regarding technology transfer. The disappointment of developing countries was reflected in India's Fourth Biennial Update Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2024: 'Despite substantial national efforts and investments, barriers like slow international technology transfer and intellectual property rights (IPR) hinder the rapid adoption of [climate friendly] technologies' ( As India has compromised its long-held position that technology transfer to developing countries must be on 'favourable terms', its demand for climate-friendly technologies from advanced countries could lose its sting. Biswajit Dhar is former Professor of Economics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. K.M. Gopakumar is Senior Researcher and Legal Adviser, Third World Network
