India, UK discuss defence, counter-terrorism

New Delhi: Seeking to restore momentum to their bilateral ties, India and UK on Thursday discussed a wide range of issues, including defence and counter-terrorism while agreeing to hold bi-annual talks to tackle threats from cyber crime.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and his British counterpart William Hague, who held comprehensive delegation- level talks here, also deliberated upon the security situation in the region, including Afghanistan and Pakistan. The two sides reviewed progress made to strengthen civil nuclear energy cooperation, both commercially and through their institutions. The volatile situation in Syria also came up during the talks with both sides expressing readiness to support the efforts for peaceful resolution to the crisis there. The two sides also decided to enhance cooperation in the area of cyber security, structured dialogue which was held for the first time last month, and agreed to conduct their Cyber Dialogue on a bi-annual basis. At a joint press conference here, the two leaders spoke about the situation in the region while underlining the importance of closer contacts between the two countries. On UK moves to slash aid of 280 million pounds per annum to India by half, Khurshid made it clear that New Delhi is not unduly worried about it. "Aid is past, trade is future" and the countries are looking at the future," he said. Khurshid also said, "If we did not discuss it (aid issue), it did not merit a discussion." PTI