Ministry of External Affairs Government of India

Official Spokesperson (Shri Vishnu Prakash): Good evening. I know that you have had a long day; I know you are tired and sleepy. But I thought that I will quickly give you some details about two very important bilateral meetings that the Prime Minister has had today with British and French leaders.

First, there was a meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the newly-elected British Prime Minister Mr. David Cameron. Prime Minister congratulated Mr. Cameron on his electoral victory. An invitation has already been extended to Prime Minister Cameron to visit India in July, next month. Prime Minister said that he looked forward to the visit of Right Hon'ble David Cameron to India.

As the Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister Cameron had visited India in 2006 and he fondly recalled his visit.. The two leaders went on to review the status of bilateral relations and expressed their satisfaction, their happiness at the trajectory of our ties. India and UK had elevated the relationship to the level of a strategic partnership in the year 2004. The British Prime Minister underscored his party's and his country's deep commitment to further strengthening and deepening ties with India.

Prime Minister Singh and Prime Minister Cameron noted that there was tremendous potential for cooperation in areas like trade and economic relations, human resource development, and so on. Many of you know that trade with UK is over 13 billion dollars. The trade between India and UK is by and large balanced. UK is also the fourth largest investor in India and similarly Indian investments in UK have been sizeable and growing.

The Indian Prime Minister said that he would welcome more British investments in India. The British Prime Minister noted that Indian students were the second largest among foreign students studying in the UK, and said that he would like to see more Indian students to studying in the United Kingdom.

The two Prime Ministers briefly exchanged views on G20. You would recall that in April 2009 UK had hosted the G20 Summit. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh observed that India would like to see continued concerted efforts by all countries to ensure that global recovery gets further consolidated, as the process was still somewhat tentative. Also that slack in private demand could be compensated by fiscal measures and stimulus packages.

They went on to exchange views on the regional situation including that in Afghanistan, and agreed to remain in touch. The British Prime Minister reaffirmed the desirability, the need for reforms in the international financial institutions including the UN. He reiterated UK's support for India's candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

Next, Prime Minister had a very warm meeting with President Nicholas Sarkozy of France. We have been strategic partners since 1998. The two leaders, as I said, had a very warm meeting as old friends. Prime Minister recalled the visit of President Sarkozy to India in January 2008 as the Chief Guest for the Republic Day Celebrations in India. An invitation has already been extended to President Sarkozy and Madame Carla Brunei. Prime Minister said that he looked forward to their visit later this year and that a very warm welcome awaited the French President and his spouse. They went on to discuss outcomes of the visit of President Sarkozy to India. President Sarkozy recalled Prime Minister's own visit to France for the French National Day on the 14th of July 2009 when Prime Minister Dr. Singh was the Guest of Honour. It would be recalled that President Sarkozy had also made a special gesture of inviting a four hundred strong Indian Armed Forces contingent on that occasion which had led the military parade in Paris.

President Sarkozy said that France regarded India as a most important partner of France in the world and saw India as a country that plays a critical role in world affairs. He added that India should play a bigger role not just in G20, but in all institutions of global governance. He reiterated France's full support for India's candidature for permanent membership of the UN Security Council. He also was fully supportive of India's efforts on counter-terrorism.

The two leaders then exchanged views on G20. You know that after the Seoul G20 Summit in November this year, France will assume Presidency of G20. President Sarkozy shared with the Prime Minister some of the major priorities of France, and French vision of G20 once it assumes the Presidency. He pointedly said that he would like to consult closely with India in crafting his vision for G20. They discussed bilateral issues and reiterated the importance of cooperation in areas like technology, defence cooperation, science and technology and so on. I would like to note that France is India's fifth largest trading partner among the EU countries.

This was briefly what was discussed during the two meetings that Prime Minister had today.

Question: So, there was no meeting of the BRIC nations as has been expected.

Official Spokesperson: You are aware that because of domestic situation in Brazil, particularly the floods that have taken place, President Lula could not visit. Accordingly it was decided not to have the BRIC meeting that was envisaged.

Question: Would it be correct to assume, from what we have been told about the Indian Prime Minister's comments about global recovery and the slack in private demand, that India is in fact urging the developed world to not cut back sharply and, therefore, impact growth? Can that be taken as one of the key messages that the Indian Prime Minister gave his counterparts?

Official Spokesperson: What the Indian Prime Minister told today, I have shared with you. You will also see his intervention tomorrow which spells out Prime Minister's vision, his thinking on the matter.

Question: Did he say anything on the bank tax?

Official Spokesperson: With these two leaders what he discussed, I have already given you a flavor of. On the issue of bank tax, you already have a perspective.

Question: Prime Minister was to discuss issues with the Chinese President in case that BRIC meeting would have taken place. Is there any meeting of Prime Minister scheduled tomorrow?

Official Spokesperson: As far as I knew there was no structured meeting as such with President Hu Jintao of China. Prime Minister has had a bilateral meeting with President Hu Jintao in April this year in Brasilia on the sidelines of the BRIC Summit. Today what had been envisaged was a meeting of the BRIC leaders in the context of the G20 Summit.

Question: Thank you for the late evening briefing. I just wanted to ask two questions. One is, in the past I believe in several bilateral meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Prime Minister Singh has raised the questions of Sikh militancy in Canada and asked for Canada to crackdown on that. Is this likely to be a topic of discussion amongst other topics tomorrow when he meets Prime Minister Harper? And also, with regard to the whole question of not cutting back on spending in order to keep the economies invigorated, Britain believes in cutting back on some amount of spending. They were actually putting forth some cut backs. So, was this discussed in any way between Prime Minister Cameron and Dr. Singh?

Official Spokesperson: Thank you. Both very valid questions.

On the second question, the reading that I have I have shared with you. I was not physically present at the bilateral meeting. So, at this juncture I cannot add more to what I have already told you.

As far as your first question is concerned, there is going to be the meeting tomorrow – as you know that is the bilateral component – between the Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Canada. What I understand is that the leaders will discuss all issues of bilateral interest as well as regional and international issues. We will certainly give you a flavor of what has been discussed tomorrow. But on the issue that you mentioned, I think you were present in Washington in April when I briefed you on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit. There was a meeting between Prime Minister Singh and Prime Minister Harper, and I had given you a perspective on that meeting. It is on the website and you may want to take a look. At that time Prime Minister Singh had drawn the attention of Prime Minister Harper to this issue. We have been in touch with each other on this and other issues of common interest and concern. Thank you very much.