Efforts to give new impetus to the Commonwealth and U.K.-India bilateral relations will get under way on Monday, as a Commonwealth business forum kicks off ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend in London.
The Commonwealth Business Forum, which will bring together business leaders and political figures from across the Commonwealth, would explore ways of raising intra-Commonwealth trade from around $525 billion in 2015 to around $700 billion by 2020, alongside looking at some of the contemporary challenges and opportunities around technology, skills, and protectionism.
The CHOGM meet is to take place alongside Mr. Modi’s bilateral visit to the U.K., in which a range of issues — including immigration, technology cooperation and education — will be in the frame.
Diaspora event
Ahead of the CHOGM meeting — on Thursday and Friday — Mr. Modi will arrive in the U.K. for the bilateral visit, during which he will hold meetings with Prime Minister Theresa May, Prince Charles and the Queen, alongside a diaspora event in central London. The latter will be on a smaller scale compared to the massive event during his last bilateral visit and will involve a speech followed by a question and answer session, with questions taken both from the audience gathered and via live link-ups from across the world.
The two meetings with Mr. Modi held by Ms. May will be seen as part of efforts by Britain to emphasise its eagerness to forge closer ties with India, amid growing scepticism and concern about Britain’s ability to secure lucrative post-Brexit trade deals.
A memorandum of understanding on the return of illegal migrants to India, previously agreed and relating to an issue that Britain has repeatedly raised, will be formally signed. Other agreements set to be reached include one on the setting up of an Ayurveda research centre in the U.K. However, it remains to be seen whether any moves will be made to respond to Indian concerns about Britain’s immigration regime — which India has repeatedly stressed is key to a future relationship.
Johal’s detention
Also to be seen is in what format Britain raises issues around the treatment of religious minorities in India and the detention of Jagtar Singh Johal, a British citizen who remains in custody in India after being arrested last year. British Ministers have said both these issues would be raised during Mr. Modi’s visit, though insisting that these would be made privately rather than through “megaphone diplomacy”.
With an Indian diaspora of around 1.4 million, Mr. Modi’s visit will attract much attention. A number of rallies — both to protest and support Mr. Modi — are being planned during and ahead of the visit. They include one by the South Asia Solidarity group, which will be holding a protest outside Downing Street over attacks on religious minorities, Dalits and the media. The U.K. Sikh Federation will also hold a protest which is likely to revolve around Mr. Johal’s detention, while another one is to be organised by Nazir Ahmed, a Member at the House of Lords. Mr. Ahmed on Monday is likely to raise a question on the “peaceful resolution” to conflicts in Kashmir, Punjab and other northeastern States.
Another protest will take place by the group ‘Action for Elephants’, calling on the Indian government to enforce laws on protecting temple elephants. A rally in support of Mr. Modi is also due to take place outside the diaspora event venue on Wednesday.
