India’s G20 presidency has been “incredibly important” as the country has offered effective leadership in addressing various global challenges such as food security, British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said on Monday.
“It’s quite clear to me that this is the right presidency at the right time,” Tugendhat added. During its G20 presidency, India has been flagging concerns of the Global South including in areas of food, fuel, and fertilisers along with focusing on ensuring inclusive global growth, speedy implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and green development, etc. The British minister was in India on a three-day visit, primarily to attend the G20 anti-corruption ministerial meeting in Kolkata last week. Regarding Indo-UK bilateral ties, Tugendhat said there is “no debate” in his country about New Delhi being an “essential ally” of London. He also complimented India’s global initiative to encourage the consumption and production of millet and elaborated on how it can contribute to dealing with the problem of food insecurity.
Tugendhat said India is providing leadership to the G20 at a time when the world is facing a plethora of challenges. “We are very focused on what we need to do as partners, which is to make sure that we’re offering the leadership to our own people, but also the support to many others around the world,” he said. “And that’s exactly what the Indian presidency of the G20 is doing. So I must say I’m very, very grateful to your government for all that it is doing,” he said. Asked about the kind of security cooperation India and the UK are looking at in the backdrop of the global geopolitical upheaval, the minister said both countries see the world “very similarly”. On the ambitious India-UK trade deal, Tugendhat said he was confident that both sides will be able to conclude it. “I’m very hopeful. And I can tell you that officials are working on it right now. Look, we’ve got to get a deal that works for the Indian people, works for the British people,” he said. Tugendhat said the UK is trying to get the best deal for its people and the Indian government is doing exactly the same for the Indian citizens. “And what we need to do is make sure that we get a deal that works for all of us. But I’m confident that we can come to an agreement that does that,” he said. In April last year, the two sides had set a Diwali deadline for concluding the free trade agreement but the deal could not be finalised in view of differences over certain issues as well as political developments in the UK. The India-UK relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the India-UK virtual summit held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his then-counterpart, Boris Johnson, in May 2021. At the summit, the two sides adopted a 10-year roadmap to expand ties in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections among others.