2024-07-06 19:29:35
London: Britain’s newly appointed Prime Minister Keir Stormer on Friday appointed David Lammy as Foreign Minister, starting the process of forming a Labor Party government after winning the general election. Lammy (51), an advocate of strong bilateral relations with India and calling Foreign Minister Jaishankar a ‘friend’, said at the ‘India Global Forum’ in London last week that if the Labor Party comes to power in the elections, he intends to visit India within the first month of his term. Jaishankar congratulated Lammy on being appointed Britain’s Foreign Minister. Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar wrote on ‘X’, ‘Hope our partnership continues and strengthen the India-UK comprehensive strategic partnership.’ After being appointed Foreign Minister, Lammy said, ‘It is the honor of my life to be appointed Minister for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.’ He said, ‘The world is facing big challenges, but we will face them with Britain’s immense strength. We will reunite Britain for our security and prosperity.’
Diwali and Free Trade Agreement
Last week, Lammy had said, “Many Diwalis have passed without a trade deal and many businesses have been left waiting,” referring to the missing of the Diwali 2022 deadline set by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson for a free trade agreement (FTA). “My message to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is that the Labor Party is ready to move forward. Let’s get a free trade agreement and move forward,” Lammy had said.
India was told a superpower
He described India as a ‘priority’ for the Labour Party and an economic, technological and cultural ‘superpower’. He had said, ‘With the Labour Party coming to power, the days of Boris Johnson (Conservative Party) reciting Rudyard Kipling’s old poem in Asia are coming to an end. If I were to recite a poem in India, it would be Tagore’s…because with a superpower like India, the areas of cooperation and learning are limitless.’ From a broader foreign policy perspective, Lammy emphasised on a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific region’, working in partnership with India.
Europe and the world are not separate worlds
He had said, ‘We are in favour of a rule-based system and against those who want to redraw borders by force with a new form of imperialism. Such as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin in Europe and those in Asia who want to impose their will on their neighbours and deprive them of free choice.’ Lammy had said, ‘Europe and Asia are not two different worlds… In this challenging environment, Britain will try to increase security partnership with India from military to maritime security, from cyber to critical and emerging technologies, from defence and industrial cooperation to supply chain security.’ He said, ‘We also want to send a message that we do not see the trade agreement as the top point in relations with India, but as the base, because we can do a lot in all areas.’