External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar met UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Monday in Rome, ahead of the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting being hosted by Italy where India has been invited as a guest country.
Appreciate the steady momentum in India UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening cooperation in technology, green energy, trade, mobility, and ongoing developments in Indo-Pacific and West Asia," the EAM posted on X after the meeting.
The meeting came just a few days after the Prime Minister and British PM Keir Starmer met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro last week and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
As he announced the establishment of two new Consulates General of India in the United Kingdom in Belfast and Manchester, PM Modi had called the meeting with Starmer an "extremely productive" one.
For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UK holds immense importance. In the next few years, we look forward to developing close cooperation in the area of technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology. We also look at adding strength to trade as well as cultural linkages," he said after the first meeting between the two leaders.
EAM Jaishankar, who inaugurated the new Chancery of the Embassy of India in Rome on Sunday, is on a three-day visit to attend the Outreach session of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
He is also scheduled to attend the 10th edition of the MED Mediterranean Dialogue in Rome, organised by Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.
The conference will be inaugurated by Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani on Monday with a speech.
Besides EAM Jaishankar, the event will also be attended by high-level representatives from all over the enlarged Mediterranean region and representatives of numerous relevant international organisations, including Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General, Arab League; Taher al-Baour, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Libya; Abdallah Bou Habib, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Lebanon; Mohamed Salem Ould Marzouk, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauritania; Shaya Mohsin Zindani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Yemen and Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Syria.
In Fiuggi, which is hosting the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, EAM Jaishankar is likely to engage with counterparts on major regional issues and global topics like stability in the Indo-Pacific region, which remains the third priority for political balances and world trade.
He is also likely to meet with the counterparts from Italy and the other participating countries under the engagements related to G7 and hold bilateral discussions during the visit.
The G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Fiuggi is Italy's second edition, following the first one, which took place in Capri from 17 to 19 April 2024.
The G7 Foreign Ministers met also, during the last months, behind the scenes of major international events: in Munich, Washington and New York, in the framework of the Italian Presidency.
"Just as at Capri, the agenda of the Fiuggi Ministerial Meeting will focus on the main issues at the heart of the international debate. First and foremost among these, following Hamas's brutal terrorist attack against Israel on 7 October 2023, will be the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the situation in Lebanon, the one in the Red Sea, and the pressing necessity to promote a credible political horizon for the region, with guarantees of peace and security, starting from the idea of the 'two Peoples, two States'," said the Italian G7 Presidency, in its own statement earlier this week.
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