External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday spoke to his British counterpart Liz Truss, focusing on defence and security ties, the situation in Ukraine and implementation of the India-UK ‘Roadmap 2030’. The ‘Roadmap 2030’ was adopted at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson in May last year. “Good catching up with UK Foreign Secretary @trussliz. Conducted periodic review on our Roadmap 2030. Also discussed the situation in Ukraine,” Jaishankar tweeted.
On her part, Truss said “Russian aggression against Ukraine” was discussed apart from defence and security cooperation as well as the proposed India-UK free trade agreement. “Good to speak with @DrSJaishankar. We discussed: Russian aggression against Ukraine; working towards an FTA with India; closer defence & security cooperation,” she tweeted.
The ‘Roadmap 2030’ was aimed at ramping up cooperation over the next decade in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connect among others. The US and its Western allies have been severely critical of Russia over its continuing build-up of forces near the Ukraine border. The US has already decided to send extra troops to Europe to support its allies in the backdrop of fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
