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THE
NEW DELHI DECLARATION: PARTNERSHIP FOR A BETTER AND SAFER WORLD New Delhi - January 06, 2002 |
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Partners for Peace and SecurityTerrorism
is an attack on the human rights and civil liberties of the citizens of
the world. We condemn all acts of terrorism whatever the motivation. We
reject the arguments of those who attempt to justify terrorism, which in
all its forms must be condemned unambiguously and eradicated wherever it
exists. The
terrorist attacks of 11th September, 1st October and 13th December were
deliberate attempts to shatter the peace of our peoples and to undermine
democratic values. The attack on the Indian Parliament was an attack on
democracy worldwide. Those responsible for these crimes must be delivered
to justice; they must never be allowed to threaten innocent lives in the
future. We condemn all those who support terrorism: those that finance,
train or provide support for terrorists share their guilt. The
UK and India both have long and painful histories of fighting terrorism on
their own soil. We offer our shared experiences to the international
efforts to eliminate terrorism. We welcome UNSCR 1373 and commit ourselves
fully to implement this resolution. We call for the early agreement on,
and entry into force of, the draft Comprehensive Convention on
International Terrorism. Since
the events of 11th September, our ministerial-level collaboration
has reached new levels. As Prime Ministers, we have had three substantive
meetings in the past four months. Our Foreign and Defence Ministers have
been in constant touch. Today,
we agree to enhance significantly our bilateral co-operation in
counter-terrorism, including training, building on the work of the
UK/India Joint Working Group on Terrorism. Our
two governments share a strong commitment to international peace and
security. We emphasise the central importance of peaceful resolution of
disputes and the critical role of sustained confidence-building in this
process. The U.K continues to view India as a natural contender for
permanent membership of the Security Council, and will work with India to
achieve it. We
will continue to work together in support of United Nations’
Peace-Keeping Operations. We welcome the work in hand to improve the
effectiveness of UN peace-keeping operations, following the publication of
the Brahimi Report in 2000. We look forward to further cooperation between
the armed forces of our two countries. We
share a common perspective and concern about the threats to international
peace and security, including from weapons of mass destruction and the
risks of such weapons falling into the hands of terrorists. As responsible
members of the international community we will also pool our efforts in
working towards the objective of non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and ballistic missiles. Afghanistan
Our two countries have
worked closely with the UN and other members of the international
community in recent months in support of the establishment of a
broad-based, multi-ethnic government and a sovereign and independent
Afghanistan that can meet the aspirations of all the people of that
country for development and security. We support the new Interim Authority
in Kabul and the processes established in the Bonn Agreement for the
establishment of long-term democratic structures in Afghanistan. We note
with satisfaction the developments in Afghanistan, the establishment of
the Interim Administration, the elimination of the oppressive Taliban
regime and the denial of safe haven to international terrorism. We
reaffirm our commitment to contributing to meeting the humanitarian,
reconstruction and rehabilitation needs of the Afghan people. Partners
in Development
Working
together to eliminate poverty is central to the partnership between India
and the UK. The UK Government’s programme of development assistance in
India is its largest in the world. UK assistance is focussed on strategic
nation-wide activities and on support to four partner states (Andhra
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal). Today,
we recommit our two Governments to work together to meet the global target
of halving the proportion of people in poverty by 2015 – and the
Government of India’s national targets for the 10th plan period. As its
contribution to these targets, the UK intends to triple its development
assistance to India, to approximately 300 million Pounds ( 2100 crores of
Rupees) a year, by 2004. The
two nations are engaged in a common effort to tackle HIV/AIDS and the
eradication of polio throughout the world. India has made remarkable
progress towards the eradication of polio. This month we have seen the
ratification of agreements for 98 million Pounds (686 crores of Rupees) of
UK Government support for polio eradication in India and 32 million Pounds
(225 crores of Rupees) for rebuilding primary schools damaged in the
Orissa super cyclone. We also expect shortly to sign agreements concerning
123 million Pounds (861 crores of Rupees) for HIV/AIDS relief. Concerted
international efforts to promote sustainable development, including the
protection of the environment, are essential. We welcome the
successful conclusion of negotiations of the Kyoto Protocol to the
Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the commitments made to work
towards reducing emissions of carbon. Today, we commit ourselves to
close co-operation between India and the UK in the run-up to the World
Summit on Sustainable Development. Partners
in Education and Science & Technology We
undertake to reinforce the strong education links between our two
countries taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by the spread of
the IT revolution. The India-UK Round Table has already made a
substantial contribution to taking forward this agenda. In the UK
the 1.3 million strong community of Indian origin is a tangible asset to
both countries and demonstrates how multiculturalism can promote cultural
as well as economic benefits. Such successful cultural and
educational co-operation merits greater reflection in the media of both
countries; exchanges of journalists as well as linkages between media
organisations will be encouraged. The
Indian Government’s contribution to the development of Indian Studies at
UK universities is very welcome, for instance the recent launch of a
Professorship of Indian History and Culture in the University of Oxford
through a Government of India endowment of 1.8 million Pounds (12.6
crores of Rupees). The UK Government today announces its intention
to increase the value of the Chevening scholarship scheme for Indian
students to 2 million Pounds (14 crores of Rupees) annually.
The British Council unveils its new Knowledge and Learning Centre in
Delhi, where young professionals will be able to take affordable UK
qualifications online. India
and the UK have some of the best scientists in the world.
Science and technology make a vital contribution to the development of
bilateral trade and investment. The British Council’s Science and
Technology Festival symbolises the revitalisation of bilateral links in
the field of science. We mandate the UK/India High Level Joint
Committee on Science & Technology to reach agreement on new proposals
when they meet in the spring, focusing on the networking of our centres of
excellence and of our young scientists. Partners
in Trade and Investment
Bilateral
trade reached nearly 5 billion Pounds in 2001. The UK is India’s
largest trading partner in Europe and its second largest in the world.
This is a success story for the Indo-British Partnership. Events in
the world economy this year, and the repercussions of the 11th September
attacks, have moderated but not reversed the trend. Indian
investment in the UK has increased apace: indeed, India is now the eighth
largest investor in the UK in terms of number of projects established. The
new knowledge-based industries have been important drivers of this growth:
of approximately 250 Indian companies now located in the UK, 70-80 are in
the ICT sector. And tied to this there has been a steady growth in the
movement of Indian professionals to UK, especially in high skill areas
such as IT software, medicine and education. The
UK is one of the largest cumulative investors in India which is a highly
attractive destination in the world for investment. Since 1994, nearly 200
joint ventures between India and British companies have been formed each
year. British companies are attracted to the increasing opportunities in
India as the government pushes ahead with its programme of economic
reform. Both
countries are determined to realise the enormous potential for further
development that still exists. In trade we will focus together on key
sectors where we share world class expertise, such as IT and healthcare.
Today we announce the plans of the CII and CBI to hold a major economic
seminar in London in July 2002 involving senior CEOs from both countries,
to look at the global challenges we face together and to explore future
opportunities for enhancing the trade and investment relationship. The
benefits of the increasing globalisation of the world economy should be
enjoyed as widely as possible, and the negative impacts minimised. In this
context, we welcome the agreement at the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the
World Trade Organisation in Doha on the launch of a “Development”
Round of trade negotiations. We agree that our governments should work
closely together to promote outcomes that genuinely meet the needs of
developing countries as well as contributing to a substantial
liberalisation of international trade. Conclusion
It
is our firm intention that this vibrant and dynamic partnership between
our two countries should make an ever-greater contribution to
international peace and development; and to meeting the opportunities and
challenges of economic globalisation in the 21st century. To help
achieve these goals and to ensure that this high level dialogue is
maintained in the years to come, we today name Personal Envoys to
this end. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tony Blair
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