Copter deal info high on agenda
The importance New Delhi attaches to getting more information on the UK-based AgustaWestland, which is a UK-based subsidiary of Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, has already been indicated in remarks made by external affairs minister Salman Khurshid. He has already said that seeking more information on the controversial deal from the UK will be high on New Delhi’s agenda during the bilateral talks during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit. In an effort to get more details and assistance from the UK, India has already issued a note verbale to it besides holding meetings with officials of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). While the UK has provided an interim response to India which says that they want the on-going probe in Italy to be completed, what India is really looking for is a “full-fledged response”.
The UK, in turn, would be keen to ensure that the deal does not get derailed despite the defence ministry here already having initiated the process to scrap it. For, at stake for the UK are several hundred jobs with the 12 VVIP choppers being manufactured at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil base in Somerset, UK.
During the bilateral discussions, New Delhi is also expected to convey its concerns about the Cameron-Karzai-Zardari meeting where an effort was made to push for a Kabul-Islamabad deal on Taliban reconciliation.
There is anxiety in South Block about the trilateral meet where the three declared their intention to “take all necessary measures to achieve the goal of a peace”.
India is also clearly concerned about Pak’s growing role in Afghanistan as the war-ravaged country prepares for the 2014 drawdown of US-led Nato forces. Further, UK’s push for a a strategic partnership between Pakistan and Afghanistan is also being watched carefully by New Delhi.
Bilateral trade will be on the discussion table too with the UK being among India’s major trade partners.
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