Sunday, February 6 2005 10:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: India-UK bilateral relations are poised for further consolidation and the two-way trade is expected to grow substantially, Lord Swraj Paul, NRI industrialist and Co-Chairman of the India-UK Round Table said today (Feb 6, 2005).

"The bilateral relations is poised for further consolidation and the changing relationship opens up opportunities for further improvement and ideas," Lord Paul, who is also Chairman of the Caparo Group, said in his opening remarks at the eighth meeting of the Round Table at Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire.

Lord Paul also announced that he would relinquish the co-chairmanship after submitting the conclusions of the current meeting to the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

This is the first meeting of the Round Table since change of reign in New Delhi and assumption of Prime Ministership by Manmohan Singh following General Elections last year.

At the outset, Lord Paul congratulated M H Ansari, a distinguished retired diplomat, on his appointment as Co-Chairman and leader of the Indian delegation, thanked his predecessor K C Pant for his "skill and patience and positive manner in which he guided the deliberations from the beginning of the Round Table."

The Round Table was established in 2000 by the then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and his British counterpart Robin Cook at a time when bilateral relations had reached a low following New Delhi's decision to go in for nuclear explosions in 1998.

Lord Paul congratulated Cook and Jaswant Singh on their timely initiative which seemed to have borne fruit.

The two-day meeting of the Round Table will basically focus on further stepping up bilateral trade and investment and greater cooperation in the fields of education and culture.

Noting that there was no written remit and the contents of the deliberations and scope of the reports of the Round Table evolved considerably from meeting to meeting, Lord Paul said, "The openness of the discussion at recent meetings mirrors a franker and more robust bilateral relationship."

The forum, he said, had a serious role to play as a "sounding board and source of ideas" for the respective Governments.

"Nonetheless, many of us would agree that the Round Table has not yet realised its full potential. Like any body of this kind, it has to evolve to take account of change."

Lord Paul said he himself had completed five years as Co-Chairman of the Round Table. "Eight meetings are a lot for a Co-Chairman; it is time for me to move on. As many of you already know I shall relinquish the co-chairmanship after I have reported the conclusions of this meeting to the Foreign Secretary."