What India is doing gives hope to many countries, especially in the Global South. India wants to increase Digital cooperation and Digital partnership in the world through its Digital innovations. That’s why we are sharing our experiences and open-source platforms as a global public good, PM Narendra Modi said.
"The MOSIP (Modular Open-Source Identity Platform) developed in India is a prime example of this. Today, more than 25 countries are adopting it as part of developing their sovereign digital identity systems.
We are not only sharing technology with other countries but also helping them develop it. And this is not digital aid. Many around the world like to say that we are giving aid, but let’s just say, the wise will understand. This isn’t aid; it’s digital empowerment," he said addressing the Global Fintech Festival in presence of UK PM Keir Starmer.
Earlier Keir announced more UK universities would be opening campuses in India, which the government said would bring a boost to the economy.
Confirming that the University of Lancaster and the University of Surrey had been given approval for new campuses, he said: "I'm delighted that more Indian students will be able to benefit from a world-class British education in the near future – strengthening the ties between our two countries while pumping millions back into our economy and supporting jobs at home."
The UK has a growing network of international campuses in India, with the University of York, University of Aberdeen and Queen's University Belfast among those expected to open campuses from as early as next year.
On his first day, Sir Keir met the founder of India's digital ID system - Nandan Nilekani - in the wake of plans to introduce a digital ID for people working in the UK.
The UK government's plan to introduce compulsory digital ID for people to prove their right to work in the UK has seen more than 2.8 million people signing a petition against the idea. But Downing Street is determined to press on, claiming it will curb the ability of migrants to work illegally.
The UK government says the yet-to-be-implemented UK-India trade deal has already led to higher investments and almost 7,000 jobs being created in the UK.
Under the deal the UK will cut taxes on goods imported from India including clothing, footwear, jewellery and frozen seafood, while India will reduce duties on the import of Scotch whisky, cosmetics, medical devices and luxury cars.
On UK PM's visit, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the talks pertained to four focused areas.
"The first major area is obviously trade and investment.
The Free Trade Agreement that was signed in July is now undergoing the process of ratification in both the countries and both leaders in fact remarked on, while even as this process is going on, how excited the trade, business and investment communities in the two countries are at the prospects of the full implementation of this agreement.
And in fact much of the time ybetween the business leaders of the two countries was spent on making plans for future investment, future trade cooperation between the two sides," he said.
Misri said:
"So, this visit has in fact given both sides the opportunity to discuss deepening their strategic economic engagement in order to derive the full benefits from tariff reduction under the FTA. As I mentioned, the first meeting of the reconstituted India-UK CEOs Forum has just taken place.
And in fact the UK Secretary of State for Trade and Investment Business and Trade and the Indian Commerce and Industries Minister took stock of the trade and investment relationship between the two countries and also had discussions on the Joint Economic and Trade Committee which has been reconstituted and will reset and determine long-term India-UK trade and investment relationship.
This joint economic and trade committee will also support the implementation of the India-UK FTA.
The leaders also announced new joint investments to boost the Climate Technology Startup Fund for supporting entrepreneurs in sectors of climate technology and Artificial Intelligence and this will also help in supporting the FTA chapter on innovation which also ties in with some of the initiatives that we are discussing under the Technology Security Initiative.
"Speaking of technology, technology and innovation was the second major pillar, I would say, that was in focus during the ongoing visit. This is a very important pillar of the bilateral relationship. You would be aware that during Prime Minister's visit, the progress that was made on this particular pillar and under TSI.
Major announcements have been made during the ongoing visit with regard to the establishment of the India-UK Connectivity and Innovation Centre, the India-UK Joint Centre for Artificial Intelligence and a Critical Minerals Industry Guild to secure resilient supply chains and promote green technologies. Both sides also agreed to launch phase two of the UK-India Critical Minerals Supply Chain Observatory and the establishment of a new satellite campus at IIT, the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad.
"A third very important pillar of the ongoing visit is education. Both the leaders discussed increasing collaboration in the education sector between the two countries. Indian students, as you might be aware, form the single largest cohort of foreign students in the UK. During the ongoing visit, the University of Lancaster and the University of Surrey were given their respective approvals for opening their campuses in India under the New Education Policy," the foreign secretary said.
"So far with this, there are nine leading UK universities that have now received approvals for opening their campuses in India. This is literally a silent revolution in the field of education that is taking place under the NEP.
You might be aware that some months ago in July, Southampton University became the first university to actually open a physical campus in India and has already taken in its first cohort of students.
So, it was only appropriate that during this visit, there are nine vice chancellors or ten vice chancellors, I think, accompanying the UK Prime Minister and both the Prime Ministers had the opportunity to engage with them and exchange views with them on this very important area of our cooperation.
A fourth very important area of collaboration between the two countries, growing in significance every day, is the defense sector.
He said, Keir's visit gave the opportunity to the two Prime Ministers to review cooperation in this sector, which has seen considerable expansion in recent years.
"As you might be aware, the UK Carrier Strike Group is currently off the western coast of India exercising with the Indian Navy under Exercise KONKAN. The two leaders discussed the possibility of collaboration in electric propulsion technology and the implementation of the Defense Industrial Roadmap, which was announced during Prime Minister Modi's visit to the UK earlier this summer.
The two leaders also discussed cooperation in the maritime domain, including in the Indo-Pacific, and welcomed progress made in establishing a Regional Maritime Security Centre of Excellence to further our cooperation under India's initiative of setting up the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative."
ends
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