Nothing was off the table with Modi: India Inc. Interview with David Cameron

David Cameron shared an easy chemistry with Narendra Modi during the long-awaited visit by the Indian Prime Minister to Britain in November.The British Prime Minister was by Modi's side through most of his official engagements and also shared a more quiet time together during an overnight stay at Chequers, Cameron's countryside retreat in Buckinghamshire.Here India Inc. captures some of the highlights for Cameron of what has been described as a historic visit, the first by an Indian PM in nearly a decade.Were all issues of mutual concern covered during your talks As ever in our relationship, nothing was off the table in terms of the subjects we discussed. I see India as I see Britain, a country that is a vibrant multi-racial, multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy that has very strong public debate, freedom of speech, rule of law and those are things that Britain and India continue to learn from each other.I think what's happening in India is that there is a Prime Minister with a very clear mandate to reform and open up the Indian economy to investment. That was the message very strongly received here in Britain.What was your personal highlight of the visit I think the highlight for me was having dinner together at Chequers and the ability to talk very privately about the challenges we both face. We had very good discussions.It's been a fantastic visit because we are taking the visit to a much higher level and we've got not just the big business deals of £9 billion and the jobs and the growth but the partnerships of energy and infrastructure and skills.Above all, I can see that Prime Minister Modi is deadly serious about his plans to transform India and Britain can play a big part in helping him to do that.Is there untapped potential in the India-UK ties I believe we are already natural partners, as the world's oldest democracy and the world's largest democracy, we share so many of the same values. And the ties between our people bind us together, with 1.5 million people of Indian origin living here in the UK, the second largest Indian diaspora anywhere in the world.Yet I do not believe that we're realising the true potential of this relationship. And that is what Prime Minister Modi and I want to change.We want to forge a more ambitious, modern partnership, harnessing our strengths and working together for the long term to help shape our fortunes at home and abroad in the 21st century.As leaders, we share similar priorities to create jobs and opportunities for all, to protect our people from terrorism, and to tackle global challenges like climate change.

How can the UK plug into Make in India We're getting that started with plans already in place to issue over £1 billion of bonds, right here in London, including the first ever government backed rupee denominated bond to be issued internationally.We want British companies with their world class consulting, project management and engineering skills to help you plan, design and build these new cities. So I am delighted we've agreed a new five year partnership to develop 3 cities: Amravati, Indore and Pune.We want UK and Indian scientists to work together to develop the low cost, low carbon energy that's vital for the future, and that's why we're establishing a new, £10 million joint research collaboration into new technologies. We want our companies to truly make in India, and that's why we're re invigorating our forum of business leaders who we'll see tomorrow.Why is this visit important to the UK I am excited by this visit. I am excited by what Prime Minister Modi is doing in India and I'm excited about the partnership that we can build together. To me what is most exciting is that we are talking of two countries that have very close ties and a very strong past together. But what I think is important is the future that we can have together. The future of the world's oldest democracy and the world's largest democracy.We witnessed the biggest gathering of the Indian diaspora Prime Minister Modi has ever addressed anywhere in the world at Wembley Stadium. It was the most spectacular celebration of India-UK relations our country has ever seen.What are some of the key areas of cooperation We'll work together to better protect ourselves from new and emerging threats, such as cyber attacks, with the UK helping to establish a new centre to train 1 million India cyber security professionals and offering assistance to set up a new Indian cyber crime unit.And we discussed what more we can do to support free trade, in particular by accelerating talks on a free trade deal between the EU and India, which could benefit more than 1.7 billion people and be worth over £15 billion each year to the EU and India combined.We both have big ambitions for the relationship between our countries.We want a modern, essential partnership founded on old ties, but defined and fuelled by the modern, diverse, dynamic countries that we are both today.Britain is the biggest major investor in India, bigger than the US. British businesses already support nearly 700,000 jobs in India, and India invests more into the UK than it does in the rest of the European Union combined, creating almost 8,000 new jobs here last year alone. The UK firmly supports permanent membership for India on the United Nations Security Council.International institutions need to reflect the world as it is today, in order to maintain relevance and to support the rules based system that benefits us so much.