British Prime Minister David Cameron has welcomed the ‘Make in India’ initiative by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and noted that this model of collaboration was already deeply ingrained in UK investments and partnerships with New Delhi.
The two Prime Ministers welcomed the initiatives taken by both sides to deepen defence technology and industry cooperation.
Both leaders noted the deep and fruitful business relationship between the UK and India and welcomed the £9.2 billion of commercial deals between the two nations announced during the visit.
The UK has accounted for 8.56 percent of total Foreign Direct Investment in India during the last 15 years.
Prime Minister Cameron noted the opening of the Indian market to greater Foreign Direct Investment in the insurance sector. In order to extend insurance cover to India’s large population, the government has increased the FDI limit in insurance and pension sector to 49 percent. As a result, the UK’s insurance industry with joint ventures in India, have announced a number of agreements to increase their Foreign Direct Investment in the country.
The joint statement issued after the talks between the two Prime Ministers said these agreements would amount to approximately £238 million of Foreign Direct Investment in the first instance subject to regulatory approvals.
The two Prime Ministers welcomed HSBC’s ‘Skills for life’initiative in India, a £10 million programme to skill 75,000 disadvantaged young people and children over five years.
They also announced three UK-India city partnerships with Indore, Pune and Amaravati to support India’s ambitious urban development goals through technical assistance, expertise sharing and business engagement.
They welcomed the development of Technical Assistance partnership between the UK Department of International Development and the Indian Ministry of Urban Development for national and state-led support for the development of smart and sustainable cities that are drivers of inclusive growth and job creation.
A new Thames/Ganga partnership was launched for healthy river systems.
“This partnership will consist of a collaborative programme of research and innovation to enable the sustainable management of water resources in the Ganga basin and a policy expert exchange in 2016 supported by the UK Water Partnership,” read the joint statement.
The two Prime Ministers during their meeting celebrated the growing strength, breadth and depth of the relations between India and the UK. They emphasised that this enduring connection plays a vital role in safeguarding and promoting the security and prosperity of both peoples.
