33. Mr. Gareth R. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken to advance proposals in the Delhi declaration, and in particular the recommendation that India take up a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. [39598]
§ Mr. BradshawIn the last two months I have visited India once and met twice with India's External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. We have discussed a number of areas of partnership including terrorism, peacekeeping, defence relations, and Afghanistan and other regional issues. The two Prime Ministers' Personal Envoys, David Manning and Brajesh Mishra, also met on 4 February.
I discussed Security Council reform with Jaswant Singh on 27 February. We looked forward to progress on this issue at the United Nations.
§ Ms Dari TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the India-UK Round Table's contribution to furthering the partnership in education and science and technology. [39594]
§ Mr. BradshawThe India-UK Round Table has produced wide-ranging and constructive recommendations which complement the British and Indian Governments' efforts to develop a strong partnership. HMG, with the British Council, have taken many of the Round Table's recommendations into account, including those aimed at attracting more Indian students to the UK, and developing closer links between Indian and UK universities and research institutions in areas such as information technology. The Round Table meets again in April 2002.