Rajeev Chandrasekhar meets Johnson, talks India-UK ties in innovation, tech

Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar met UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday and discussed future collaborations and partnerships between India and the UK in innovation and technology sectors, according to an official release.

Briefing reporters later, Chandrasekhar said both India and the UK want to dramatically expand the innovation economy, the release said.

"Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday met UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson along with a delegation of Indian startups, unicorns and innovators," it said adding that they both discussed future collaborations and partnerships between the two sides on innovation and the technology sector.

Chandrasekhar also met Paul Scully, British MP in this regard.

"We want to take the digital economy to be 25 per cent of the total economy. The UK government also wants to expand the slice of that pie too," Chandrasekhar told reporters.

He also held ministerial roundtable discussions with Priti Patel, Home Secretary- UK, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade- Government of UK and Chris Philip, Minister for Technology and Digital Economy UK at the India Global Forum.

Chandrasekhar outlined the rapid strides taken by India in the field of technology, and informed that the country is designing 5G gear and manufacturing devices that go into making of 5G products.

Chandrasekhar also attended a session on the Future of Digital at the IGF, UK where he spoke on the rapid digitalisation and the need for safeguarding 'Digital Nagriks' against user harm.

He called for collaboration among counties, especially like-minded democracies, to ensure safety and trust for the users in the boundaryless domain of cyberspace. Safety and trust would be paramount, he said adding that India is keen to work with partner countries in shaping the future of a secure internet.

"The data economy has created an awareness that something needs to be done for the safety of user citizens. We as policymakers, have to look at data from the prism of user safety. In the growth of the internet and big tech influence, we are at an inflection point," the minister said.