UK and India discuss cooperation amidst Lammy's visit
NEW DELHI: Britain and India on Saturday discussed expanding their "counter-terrorism" collaboration following recent fighting between India and Pakistan, Britain's foreign minister said after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. British foreign minister David Lammy is the highest-profile Western official to have visited both New Delhi and Islamabad since the South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire last month after their worst fighting in nearly three decades.
The latest tensions began in April after the killing of 26 men in Indian Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denied. India then attacked what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan, leading to escalation from both sides until a May 10 ceasefire. "We want the situation to be maintained, but of course we recognise fragility, particularly in the backdrop of terrorism, terrorism designed to destabilise India," Lammy said in an interview at the residence of the British High Commissioner in New Delhi. "We are keen to continue to work with our Indian partners on counter-terrorism measures."
He said he discussed the next steps with both Modi and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, but gave no specifics. Last year, India and Britain discussed combating the financing of terrorism, cooperation between law enforcement and judicial bodies; and information sharing. Lammy said he also discussed boosting trade between the world's fifth and sixth largest economies. The countries concluded talks for a free trade deal early last month. "I know that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is very much looking forward to coming to India very soon to sign the free trade agreement," Lammy said. "There is so much that our two nations can continue to do together."
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to the upcoming Group of Seven summit in a phone call, as the two sides look to mend ties after relations soured in the past two years. The leaders agreed to remain in contact and looked forward to meeting at the G7 summit later this month, a readout from Carney's office said. India is not a G7 member but can be invited as a guest to its annual gathering, which will be held this year in Kananaskis in the Canadian province of Alberta, from June 15 to 17.
"Glad to receive a call from Prime Minister (Carney)... thanked him for the invitation to the G7 Summit," Modi said in a post on X. Modi also stated in his post on Friday that India and Canada would work together "with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests."
Bilateral ties deteriorated after Canada accused India of involvement in a murder and of attempting to interfere in two recent elections. Canada expelled several top Indian diplomats and consular officials in October 2024 after linking them to the murder and alleged a broader effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada. New Delhi has denied the allegations and expelled the same number of Canadian diplomats in response.
India is Canada's 10th largest trading partner and Canada is the biggest exporter of pulses, including lentils, to India. Carney, who is trying to diversify trade away from the United States, said it made sense for the G7 to invite India, since it had the fifth-largest economy in the world and was at the heart of a number of supply chains. "In addition, bilaterally, we have now agreed, importantly, to continued law enforcement dialogue, so there's been some progress on that, that recognises issues of accountability. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi in that context," he told reporters in Ottawa. — Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
5 hours ago
- Observer
Russia accuses Ukraine of postponing POW swap after massive attack
KYIV: Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of postponing a large-scale exchange of captured soldiers, hours after Moscow's army launched a barrage of missiles, drones and bombs across the country. Kyiv and Moscow agreed to release all wounded soldiers and those aged under-25 that had been captured, with both sides saying the exchange was set for this weekend. The POW swap — to involve more than 1,000 people on each side — along with an agreement to hand over the bodies of thousands of killed soldiers was the only concrete outcome of a second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. Kyiv on denied Russian accusations and repatriation of the bodies of killed soldiers that the two sides had agreed at peace talks last week. Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement that there was no fixed date for the return of bodies and that Russia was not sticking to the agreed parameters of the POW swap, accusing Moscow of "dirty games" and "manipulations." Russia has rejected Ukraine's calls for an unconditional ceasefire, drawing accusations Moscow has no desire to halt its three-year attack. "The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period, both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war," Russia's top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media. Medinsky said Russia had brought the bodies of 1,212 killed Ukrainian soldiers to the "exchange area" — the first of 6,000 to be handed over. Moscow had also sent a list to Kyiv with the names of 640 POWs to be swapped in the first stage. The exchange was set to be the largest of the war, topping last month's 1,000-for-1,000 swap that was agreed at a first round of talks in Istanbul. "We urge Kyiv to strictly adhere to the timetable and all agreements reached, and begin the exchange immediately," Medinsky said. Kyiv did not immediately respond to the accusation. After the Istanbul talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the exchange would take place this weekend, while Russia said it was ready for Saturday, Sunday or Monday. The accusation came hours after Russia launched a massive aerial attack across Ukraine, heavily targeting the city of Kharkiv. At least eight people were killed in the overnight barrage and frontline shelling in total, officials said. Kharkiv came under "the most powerful attack since the beginning of the full-scale war," Mayor Igor Terekhov said. At least three people were killed and 17 wounded there after Russia pummelled homes and apartment blocks. Another six were still unaccounted for as of Saturday afternoon, believed to have been in an industrial site that was hit, the local prosecutor's office said. Three people were killed in the frontline Donetsk region, which has seen the most intense fighting of the war, and a couple were killed in the southern city of Kherson, another city close to the front. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called for Kyiv's Western allies to punish Russia for refusing to halt its attack. "To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine," he said on social media. The Ukrainian air force said Russia had fired 206 drones and nine missiles in the overnight barrage. Russia's defence ministry said it had launched a "group strike" against "military-industrial" facilities in Ukraine, adding that all the "targets" had been hit. The comments are Moscow's latest to dampen hopes for a breakthrough amid the flurry of diplomacy, as well as telephone calls between Putin and US President Donald Trump. Despite Trump urging a swift end to the fighting, he Kremlin chief has issued a host of sweeping demands on Ukraine as preconditions to a truce. They include completely pulling troops out of four regions claimed by Russia, but which its army does not fully control, an end to Western military support and a ban on Ukraine joining Nato. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed the demands as old ultimatums, questioned the purpose of more such talks and called for a summit to be attended by him, Putin and Trump. — AFP
Observer
5 hours ago
- Observer
UK and India discuss cooperation amidst Lammy's visit
NEW DELHI: Britain and India on Saturday discussed expanding their "counter-terrorism" collaboration following recent fighting between India and Pakistan, Britain's foreign minister said after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. British foreign minister David Lammy is the highest-profile Western official to have visited both New Delhi and Islamabad since the South Asian neighbours agreed to a ceasefire last month after their worst fighting in nearly three decades. The latest tensions began in April after the killing of 26 men in Indian Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denied. India then attacked what it called "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan, leading to escalation from both sides until a May 10 ceasefire. "We want the situation to be maintained, but of course we recognise fragility, particularly in the backdrop of terrorism, terrorism designed to destabilise India," Lammy said in an interview at the residence of the British High Commissioner in New Delhi. "We are keen to continue to work with our Indian partners on counter-terrorism measures." He said he discussed the next steps with both Modi and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, but gave no specifics. Last year, India and Britain discussed combating the financing of terrorism, cooperation between law enforcement and judicial bodies; and information sharing. Lammy said he also discussed boosting trade between the world's fifth and sixth largest economies. The countries concluded talks for a free trade deal early last month. "I know that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is very much looking forward to coming to India very soon to sign the free trade agreement," Lammy said. "There is so much that our two nations can continue to do together." Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to the upcoming Group of Seven summit in a phone call, as the two sides look to mend ties after relations soured in the past two years. The leaders agreed to remain in contact and looked forward to meeting at the G7 summit later this month, a readout from Carney's office said. India is not a G7 member but can be invited as a guest to its annual gathering, which will be held this year in Kananaskis in the Canadian province of Alberta, from June 15 to 17. "Glad to receive a call from Prime Minister (Carney)... thanked him for the invitation to the G7 Summit," Modi said in a post on X. Modi also stated in his post on Friday that India and Canada would work together "with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests." Bilateral ties deteriorated after Canada accused India of involvement in a murder and of attempting to interfere in two recent elections. Canada expelled several top Indian diplomats and consular officials in October 2024 after linking them to the murder and alleged a broader effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada. New Delhi has denied the allegations and expelled the same number of Canadian diplomats in response. India is Canada's 10th largest trading partner and Canada is the biggest exporter of pulses, including lentils, to India. Carney, who is trying to diversify trade away from the United States, said it made sense for the G7 to invite India, since it had the fifth-largest economy in the world and was at the heart of a number of supply chains. "In addition, bilaterally, we have now agreed, importantly, to continued law enforcement dialogue, so there's been some progress on that, that recognises issues of accountability. I extended the invitation to Prime Minister Modi in that context," he told reporters in Ottawa. — Reuters
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Homes smashed, help slashed: no respite for returning Syrians
DAMASCUS: Around a dozen Syrian women sat in a circle at a UN-funded centre in Damascus, happy to share stories about their daily struggles, but their bonding was overshadowed by fears that such meet-ups could soon end due to international aid cuts. The community centre, funded by the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR), offers vital services that families cannot get elsewhere in a country scarred by war, with an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and Western sanctions. "We have no stability. We are scared and we need support," said Fatima al Abbiad, a mother of four. "There are a lot of problems at home, a lot of tension, a lot of violence because of the lack of income." But the centre's future now hangs in the balance as the UNHCR has had to cut down its activities in Syria because of the international aid squeeze caused by US President Donald Trump's decision to halt foreign aid. The cuts will close nearly half of the UNHCR centres in Syria and the widespread services they provide — from educational support and medical equipment to mental health and counselling sessions — just as the population needs them the most. There are hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees returning home after the fall of Bashar al Assad last year. UNHCR's representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, said the situation was a "disaster" and that the agency would struggle to help returning refugees. "I think that we have been forced — here I use very deliberately the word forced — to adopt plans which are more modest than we would have liked," he said. "It has taken us years to build that extraordinary network of support and almost half of them are going to be closed exactly at the moment of opportunity for refugee and IDPs (internally displaced people) return." A UNHCR spokesperson said that the agency would shut down around 42 per cent of its 122 community centres in Syria in June, which will deprive some 500,000 people of assistance and reduce aid for another 600,000 that benefit from the remaining centres. The UNHCR will also cut 30 per cent of its staff in Syria, said the spokesperson, while the livelihood programme that supports small businesses will shrink by 20 per cent unless it finds new funding. Around 100 people visit the centre in Damascus each day, said Mirna Mimas, a supervisor with GOPA-DERD, the church charity that runs the centre with UNHCR. Already the centre's educational programmes, which benefitted 900 children last year, are at risk, said Mimas. Nour Huda Madani, 41, said she had been "lucky" to receive support for her autistic child at the centre. "They taught me how to deal with him," said the mother of five. Another visitor, Odette Badawi, said the centre was important for her well-being after she returned to Syria five years ago, having fled to Lebanon when war broke out in Syria in 2011. "(The centre) made me feel like I am part of society," said the 68-year-old. Mimas said if the centre closed, the loss to the community would be enormous: "If we must tell people we are leaving, I will weep before they do," she said Aid funding for Syria had already been declining before Trump's seismic cuts to the US Agency for International Development this year and cuts by other countries to international aid budgets. But the new blows come at a particularly bad time. Since former president Assad was ousted by Islamist rebels last December, around 507,000 Syrians have returned from neighbouring countries and around 1.2 million people displaced inside the country went back home, according to UN estimates. Llosa said, given the aid cuts, UNHCR would have only limited scope to support the return of some of the 6 million Syrians who fled the country since 2011. "We will need to help only those that absolutely want to go home and simply do not have any means to do so," Llosa said. "That means that we will need to be very selective as opposed to what we wanted, which was to be expansive." Ayoub Merhi Hariri had been counting on support from the livelihood programme to pay off the money he borrowed to set up a business after he moved back to Syria at the end of 2024. After 12 years in Lebanon, he returned to Daraa in southwestern Syria to find his house destroyed — no doors, no windows, no running water, no electricity. He moved in with relatives and registered for livelihood support at a UN-backed centre in Daraa to help him start a spice manufacturing business to support his family and ill mother. — Reuters HIGHLIGHTS The UNHCR has had to cut down its activities in Syria because of the international aid squeeze caused by US President Donald Trump's decision to halt foreign aid
