London, March 31: UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss would be visiting India on Thursday as part of a “wider diplomatic push” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the Foreign Office said. Her visit to India coincides with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s first time visit since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. During her visit, Truss would be meeting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to emphasise the importance of democracies working closer together to deter aggressors, reduce vulnerability to coercion and strengthen global security.
Her visit comes ahead of NATO and G7 meetings that will be held next week. According to the Foreign Office, “Truss would be holding talks on developing defence-related trade, including innovative security technology, strengthening defence ties with the world’s largest democracy.” She would also be working to deepen cyber security and defence co-operation between the two countries, and will announce a new joint cyber security programme. The government said that during the meetings, “the UK and India will also agree to closer maritime co-operation in the Indo-Pacific. The UK will join India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and become a lead partner on maritime security issues, coordinating work with key partners in Southeast Asia.” Speaking on the upcoming meetings, Truss said, “Deeper ties between Britain and India will boost security in the Indo-Pacific and globally, and create jobs and opportunities in both countries.
“This matters even more in the context of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and underlines the need for free democracies to work closer together in areas like defence, trade and cyber security. “India is an economic and tech powerhouse, the world’s largest democracy and a great friend of Britain, and I want to build an even closer relationship between our two nations.” The UK Foreign Secretary would be reaching India hours before Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit. This would be his first visit to India since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. UNI
