On Day 2 of Boris Johnson's visit, India-UK ink 2 governmental & 4 non-governmental MoUs

In a key development, India and United Kingdom signed six Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) on Friday. Of the six MoUs exchanged, two are Government to Government while four are Non-Governmental. The MoUs have been signed during UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's two-day visit to India. 

The MoUs signed include:

Government to Government 

•  MoU on implementation of Global Innovation Partnership between Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK.
• MoU on Cooperation on Global Centre for Nuclear Partnership between Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India and Department of Business, Energy and Industries Strategy, UK.

Non-Governmental

• MoU on the establishment of a short term Chair at Birmingham City University between ICCR and Birmingham City University.
• Joint Declaration of Intent for Cooperation in the field of Offshore Wind Development between the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Government of India and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, (OREC).
• Memeorandamdum of Understanding on the creation of The Chevening-Adani Scholarships on Artificial Intelligence between the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office-British High Commission New Delhi and the Adani Group.
• MoU on satellite launch programme between New Space India Limited (NSIL) and OneWeb.

'India-UK ties never been stronger'

The MoUs were signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his British counterpart, Boris Johnson during the latter's India visit. Both the premiers held talks aimed at further bolstering cooperation in areas of defence, trade and clean energy. There were also discussions on a post-Brexit free trade deal, which the UK claimed will be negotiated and materialised before Diwali. 

During the joint press briefing, Johnson referred to his Indian counterpart as a 'khaas dost'. "I don't think the things have ever been as strong or as good between us (India-UK) as they are now," the UK PM said, expressing gratitude for his 'fantastic welcome'. Elaborating on the same, he stated that he was made to feel lakin to celebrities such as Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan.