London: As British Prime Minister David
Cameron embarks on his first India trip, his Chancellor of
Exchequer on Sunday said the visit would mark the beginning of a
"new partnership" with an emerging country, with which UK
wants to partner in tackling a range of international
challenges, including terrorism.
Cameron will lead this week the strongest British
delegation to visit India in modern times, and George Osborne,
who will be part of the visit said India matters because of
its growing economic and cultural clout on the global stage.
"Alongside a renewed UK-India economic partnership, we want India to become a special partner in tackling a range of
international challenges. Both our countries have had to face the scourge of terrorism," Osborne wrote in The Sunday Telegraph.
Cameron undertakes a two-day official visit from
Wednesday, eyeing among other high-profile deals a 500
million-pound Hawk jet trainers contract for BAE systems.
Osborne noted that UK-India collaboration can make a
real difference to jobs and prosperity in both nations, and to
solving the shared global challenges.
"Our coalition government is profoundly committed to a
new special relationship with India - between our governments,
our businesses and our peoples," he wrote.
Cameron`s coalition government has singled out India
as a key partner, saying it wants the two countries to forge a
"new special relationship" and backing India for a permanent
seat at the UN Security Council.
Osborne today wrote saying: "India matters. Its
economy is growing at three times the speed of ours. By 2030
it may have overtaken us in size".
He noted that Indian companies already employ 100,000
people in the UK and how British retailers are reaping the
rewards of investing in an Indian retail sector.
"And... it`s not just a matter of economics. Later
this year thousands of athletes will gather in Delhi for the
Commonwealth Games.
"By the middle of this decade, India aims to be only
the fourth country to have put a man in space. A billion more
cinema-goers around the world settle down with their popcorn
to watch a Bollywood film than rival Hollywood productions,"
he wrote.
"That`s why this week David Cameron will lead the
strongest British delegation to visit India in modern times,"
he said.
He pointed out that the delegation of David Cameron
includes top ministers, and CEOs of some of the world`s
best-known companies, academics from top universities and
cultural leaders, showing the importance the government is
placing on an India relationship.
PTI
