India, UK are natural partners in global fight against terrorism: PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday drew the attention of British MPs to terrorism, extremism and radicalisation and said that India and the United Kingdom are natural partners in the global fight against terrorism.

Hosting an eight-member delegation of British Parliamentarians here, PM Modi also said that India and UK ties “have strong bipartisan support in both countries” and called for enhanced interactions between MPs of both countries.

PM’s interaction with British MPs assumes significance as the UK Parliament had discussed on January 20 a resolution on Kashmir in the context of “escalation of violence and breaches of international human rights”

The resolution had called on “the (British) government to encourage Pakistan and India to commence peace negotiations to establish a long-term solution on the future governance of Kashmir based on the right of the Kashmiri people to determine their own future in accordance with the provisions of UN Security Council resolutions.”

India has been maintaining that cross-border terrorism, emanating from Pakistan and territories held by it, is blocking any resolution of the Kashmir issue and holding up talks between the two countries.

At the same time, PM Modi fondly recalled his own visit to the UK in November 2015, and the visit of British Prime Minister Theresa May to India in November last year.

He also welcomed the celebration of 2017 as the India-UK Year of Culture.