In UK, Rajnath pushes to bolster rules-based order

The UK and other like-minded countries should work with India to strengthen a stable global rules-based order, including through partnering in its "inexorable rise", defence minister Rajnath Singh told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

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Singh, the first Indian defence minister to visit the UK in 22 years, met Sunak in London on Wednesday to discuss defence.

and economic cooperation and how the two sides can work together to bolster the rules-based order. Singh also met his British counterpart Grant Shapps and foreign secretary David Cameron.

Singh told Sunak about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to make India a developed country by the middle of the 21st century, and noted the country's economic growth is "sustainably on the upswing", poverty has been reduced and a business-friendly architecture has been put in place. At the global level, Singh said, the Indian government is "ready to partner with friends like the UK to strengthen the rules-based world order".

The UK and other like-minded countries "should work with India for strengthening a peaceful and stable global rules-based order, including through partnering India in its inexorable rise, which can be strengthened, reinforced and speeded up with friendly collaboration", Singh was quoted as saying in a readout from the Indian side.