Joint Press Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Indian Finance Minister
Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee and the UK Chancellor of Exchequer, Mr. George Osborne had a bilateral meeting, here today. Indian delegation, led by Finance Minister and UK delegation led by Mr. George Osborne had discussions on boosting the trade and investment in their economies and agreed to continue to work together in the G-20 and other international financial institutions for strong, sustainable and balanced growth. During the meeting it was decided that the next round of bilateral dialogue will be held in London in 2011.
Following is the joint press statement issued after the meeting between the UKdelegation led by its Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Indian side by Union Finance Minister:
“We - Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee - met today for the bilateral meeting. Today's meeting, which comes alongside the summit between our Prime Ministers, demonstrates the importance we place on our bilateral relationship and the ties that bind our economies.
We are positive about the longer-term prospects for the UK and Indian economies and for the potential mutual benefits of closer economic co-operation. The global economic outlook remains uncertain and we will continue to work together in the G20 and other International Financial Institutions on our shared international economic challenges, including through the G20 Framework for Strong Sustainable and Balanced Growth. Further reform of International Financial Institutions to improve their effectiveness, legitimacy and accountability remains a shared priority. We welcome the recent reforms of the World Bank and are committed to play our part in delivering a comprehensive package of IMF quota and governance reforms at the G20 Summit in Seoul, this November.
We discussed how to boost trade and investment in our economies, and reaffirmed our shared belief that open markets, operating through a free and fair trading regime, will be vital to sustaining future prosperity.
We had a valuable discussion on the importance of reforming the global financial system to reduce crisis to the global economy going forward. We agreed that the UK and India would collaborate in the G20, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and Financial Stability Board fora in key areas of financial sector reform in the coming months.
We agreed on the importance of our two governments working together to boost business opportunities between the UK and India, including actions that both governments could take to support our growing trade and investment links. We invited members of the visiting UK business delegation to join our meeting to hear their views on how to strengthen our commercial ties and on how businesses can play a role in helping governments meet common challenges, including on financing infrastructure development.
Today’s dialogue reaffirmed the continued strength of the UK-India economic and financial relationship. We agreed to meet again for the next round of the dialogue in London in 2011 and that we should further strengthen our Economic and Financial Dialogue to deliver on the great potential in our relationship.”
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