BY Team Mangalorean Bangalore

Bangalore July 28, 2010: British Prime Minister  David Cameron Wednesday described himself as a practical politician who believes that when problems get serious, one must tackle them, when the "answer is obvious, we should do it".

"Everything I have spoken about today - an enhanced relationship and a shared determination to take on the challenges that confront us... these are not borne from sentiment. "I'm a practical politician," he said in a 30-minute address at Infosys Technologies here.

"I believe when the problems are serious - we should tackle them. When the answer is obvious - we should do it. This is why I'm here," said Cameron, who arrived here early Wednesday on a two-day visit to India, his first as prime minister.

He listed three serious problems- economic crisis, global insecurity, climate change -and said the answer to them was "obvious" -- "India and Britain coming together".

Cameron quoted late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi recalling once what her grandfather told her: "There are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. Be in the first group; there's much less competition."

The British prime minister said: "The truth is we can't leave our prosperity, our security and the future of our planet to chance. We must be the ones to act - and we must act together. Together Britain and India can do the work that's so needed."

Cameron asserted: "Together our partnership can benefit the world. So together, let's build a new relationship to meet the scale of our ambitions."

'Uncaged Indian Tiger'

Cameron said the reform process started by then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh in the 1990s had ''uncaged the Indian Tiger'' and its power was now felt across the world.

He said his visit to the country and the reason for the biggest delegation that had accompanied him was due to the ''most obvious'' reason of economic prosperity India had achieved and the lucrative opportunities it offered to the economy of England. ''There is still a development road to travel but thanks to the reform process started by Dr Singh in the 1990s, the Indian tiger has been uncaged and its power can be felt around the world,'' he observed.

 ''One can feel it in the fantastic new airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad, in Mumbais Bandra-Worli Sea Link, in the Metro and in the stunning new airport terminal  in New Delhi', he said. ''And we can feel that power back home too. The Tata Group is now the largest manufacturing employer in Britain. More than 180 Indian companies have invested in our IT sector,'' he said explaining how India represented an enormous opportunity for British companies.

Mr Cameron lauded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's leadership and said he had seen it for himself at the G-20 summit.

''India matters most to Britain, for many reasons beyond your economy too,'' he said. ''Your Prime Minister has personally provided great intellectual leadership in economic matters. That is why the time has come for India to take the seat it deserves in the UN Security Council,'' he added.

Climate change

Cameron said unless the world decides as one on fighting the climate change, the problem will turn out to be catastrophic for the entire globe.

Speaking during his visit to the campus of Infosys, he called upon India and England to come together to tackle this problem. "Fail to act now and we are looking down the barrel of catastrophic floods, intense heat waves and droughts. This will lead to Physical geography dictate human geography, climate change exacerbating waves of migration, poverty, and hunger," he said.

He said the risks from climate change were more apparent in India. "With over half-a-billion people on the Ganges Plain and much more of your agriculture dependent on water from the Himalayas and an unreliable monsoon, the time for decisive action is long overdue", he warned.

India, UK ink Defence pacts, likely to enter into Nuke Coop. deal

After signing a 700 million Pound-Sterling Defence agreement, India and the UK are likely to enter into a Civil Nuclear deal with British Prime Minister David Cameron, currently in India, having agreed to lift the ban on export of Nuclear technology and components to India. The British Prime Minister, who arrived here yesterday on a three-day official visit to India, also called for joint fight by India and England against terrorism and said terror groups like Lashkar-e-Toba (LeT), Taliban or Haqqani should not be allowed to launch attacks on Indians whether in India or Afghanistan.

The two countries signed a 700 million Sterling pact, including 500 million Sterling between British aerospace major BAE Systems and the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to license the production of 57 additional Advanced Jet Trainers (AJTs) Hawk for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The other 200 million Sterling Rolls-Royce engine contract with HAL includes the first Adour engines for the Indian Navy, which will operate 17 of the aircraft. In an address at the Infosys Technologies, he said like India, England too was determined to fight against terror groups who were out to target ''soldiers and civilians'' working for peace in Afghanistan.

''We, like you, are determined that groups like the Taliban, the Haqqani network or Lakshar-e-Toiba should not be allowed to launch attacks on Indian and British citizens in India or in Britain. Nor against our people, whether soldiers or civilians, from both our countries who are working for peace in Afghanistan,'' he said. British media reported that UK companies would now be free to strike deals with Indian companies for products intended for civilian use. The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian quoted British Business Secretary Vince Cable, who has championed the move, as saying that there was already a declaration under which a certain amount of modest research took place. ''We want to take this to a higher level. There are British companies like Rolls-Royce, Serco and others which potentially could do a large amount of business in India,'' he said.

The British Prime Minister will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi tomorrow on a wide range of issues including bilateral matters and regional and global situation.

Earlier in the morning, he will be given a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj will also call on him.

UK persuades India to sign WTO pact

It was time India, poised to emerge as a global economic giant, ''hammers out'' a global deal on trade by signing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) pact, British Prime Minister David Cameron today said.

Speaking during his visit to the campus of IT major Infosys Technologies here, he said, ''India should agree on Doha (Development Round). Do you know how much India would add to the world economy.

It can be as much as 170 billion US dollars. So what is holding it back?'' India, besides China, had rejected the negotiation in 2008 rounds which led to collapse of negotiations over issues of agricultural trade. India and the US had repeatedly disagreed over the special safeguard mechanism, a measure designed to protect poor farmers by allowing countries to impose a special tariff on certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall.

Mr Cameron said he would like India to complete the Doha Development Round ''as it is''. ''Thats why, rightly, Im pushing for it,''.

He agreed that the negotiations were not moving at present. Those countries that passionately wanted to see progress must now make out the case for trade, he felt. ''One way that I believe we can do so is by establishing a high level group of the best minds and strongest advocates for trade to point the way forward. I believe we will all need to show greater ambition. We need to make the deal bigger in order to make progress.

If necessary, we should make proposals bigger in order to make progress,'' he said. He said in the meantime, necessary changes that could be brought about as trade facilitation could clear the way to much greater economic growth. ''If India could come to an understanding at the WTO, it will be a giant leap towards meeting the economic challenge of our age,'' he added.

British PM plays up Shah Rukh, Tendulkar connection

Unleashing a charm offensive on his maiden visit to India, British Prime Minister David Cameron singled out Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and cricket icons Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar among the cultural bonds that tie India and Britain.

India and Britain also share so much culturally whether it's watching Shah Rukh Khan, eating the same food, speaking the same language and of course, watching the same sport," Cameron said in a special lecture to over 2,000 techies and business leaders at India's IT bellwether Infosys Technologies Bangalore.

Many of you in this room would have grown up revering Kapil Dev. I did the same with Ian Botham, he said to a beaming audience.

And Sachin Tendulkar, the Little Master, is so talented that wherever you're from, you can't help but admire him as he hits another century, he said.

"Indeed, culture is so important to our relationship that it's going to be a significant part of what I talk to Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh about tomorrow."

Cameron arrived in New Delhi Wednesday evening, the second leg of his two-day visit to the country. Expanding business and cultural tries between India and Britain are among key highlights of Cameron's maiden prime ministerial visit to India.

Besides business honchos, Cameron has brought to India a team of sports and cultural personalities headed by Jeremy Hunt, Britains secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport.

The heads of the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Library, the British Council and vice chancellors of leading British universities are also part of the delegation.

In an article entitled A stronger, wider and deeper relationship in an Indian daily Wednesday, Cameron set the perfect pitch for his India visit. He underlined that he has come to India with the biggest and most diverse delegation to renew the relationship between India and Britain - to relaunch a relationship that is stronger, wider and deeper".

Lauding India's growing economy and emergence on the global stage, Cameron wrote: In the U.S., they used to say: 'Go West, young man' to find opportunity and fortune. For today's entrepreneurs, the real promise is in the East.

I believe that to spread opportunity for all our people, from Delhi to Dundee, Bangalore to Birmingham, we would benefit from a common strategy for economic growth, he wrote.

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India important for Britain - Cameron