Liz Truss prioritises India ties as step toward building ‘a network of liberty’

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is set to announce a series of tech and infrastructure tie-ups with India, where she arrives today to meet with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and Environment Minister Yadav.

As part of the UK-India 10 Year Roadmap, the Foreign Secretary will also announce a new forum bringing together leading figures from government, business and academia in both countries to drive closer links in priority areas like tech and security.

During a two-day trip to Delhi and Mumbai, the Foreign Secretary will outline agreements to deepen investment ties between the two countries and work together on finance and technical support packages for the developing world.

The deals include more tech transfer and knowledge sharing with developing countries alongside heavy capital investment – a model that the UK is looking to replicate with partners around the world. The agreements will help drive forward the Build Back Better World Initiative launched by G7 leaders in June to help meet the huge clean infrastructure need in the developing world.

The Foreign Secretary says she wants to strengthen the UK’s economic, technology and security links with fast-growing economies and like-minded partners and build “a network of liberty” around the globe. Closer ties with like-minded democracies such as India are key to that ambition. In May, the Prime Minister and Indian Prime Minister Modi agreed a new roadmap to strengthen our partnership.

The Foreign Secretary will meet External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in Delhi to outline her vision and discuss areas for closer collaboration, before heading to Mumbai, where she will visit the UK Carrier Strike Group on its most substantial port visit to date.

During the trip she will announce a £11.5m UK investment in two venture capital funds aimed at supporting India’s transition to cleaner energy. Both funds will return profit to the UK taxpayer and make use of UK expertise.

She will also announce a $70m (£50.4m) investment by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s investment arm CDC to fund green tech infrastructure and a£500k UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) investment to build a new virtual network of UK and Indian labs working to promote Net Zero targets in key industries.

It has previously been posited that increased collaboration between India and the West could help the former accentuate its ability to provide a bulwark against China’s military and political ambitions. However, New Delhi was recently frustrated by the problem-ridden withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “I want the UK and India to step-up their partnership in critical areas like technology, investment, security and defence. India is the world’s largest democracy, a tech and economic powerhouse and a vital strategic partner for the UK.
“Closer ties – including in areas like tech and infrastructure – will deliver jobs and growth in both countries, boost developing world economies and help us promote our values on the global stage.”

Both the UK and India are known for their tech expertise. Britain has the third largest number of tech ‘unicorns’ in the world, the name given to a start-up which is valued at over $1 billion. India has the third highest number of tech start-ups in the world.

The Foreign Secretary is due to meet Environment Minister Yadav later today to discuss climate targets. She will underline the importance of making concrete progress on climate change ahead of the upcoming COP26 Summit and will note that India already leads the world in renewable technology and express her hope that they will commit to a more ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution.

Tomorrow in Mumbai, Liz Truss will speak to Indian business leaders at a Build Back Better World roundtable to help boost infrastructure in the developing world.