Wednesday, June 29 2005 13:24 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

London: Lauding India's "spectacular" economic growth, Britain has said that it would like the bilateral relation to be a truly global collaboration on issues, which will shape the future of the world on energy security, climate change, development and security.

"India, which maintains high standards of human rights and in whose legal system we trust, is not racing the world to the bottom, but to the top," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw observed while speaking on "India: The Next Decade" at the Chatham House in London.

"India's economic rise is not simply down to cheaper wages or to competition in low-cost sectors. British and other national companies look to India not just for low-cost call centres, but for services at every level of expertise and skills, " he said yesterday (Jun 28, 2005).

Recalling his visit to AstraZeneca's first medical research laboratory in Bangalore just over a year ago, the British Foreign Secretary said, "It says a good deal about India's position in the cutting-edge industries of the future. The hospitals of our National Health Service now look to India for overnight results on medical tests through the use of tele-medicine - images and other data sent through the Internet."

Describing the rise of India as "spectacular", Straw said, "India is one of the world's most vibrant societies, and the largest democracy on earth, with 5 and 1/2 thousand daily newspapers and the film capital of the world in Mumbai. That makes for an environment where innovation and dynamism can flourish."

Comparing India's growth with China, Straw said, "One of the fundamental differences between India and China is that India is a democracy and China is not. China is achieving remarkable things. But one reason I'm so confident of India's future success is the way it is governed."

He said UK-India relationship over the next decade has enormous potential. "Both of us have a lot at stake in making a reality of the 'strategic partnership' declared by our two Prime Ministers last September."

Straw said, "Economic growth is also changing Indian society, and the pace of change looks set to increase further. Two million new Indian mobile phone subscribers sign up every month. India's universities are producing hundreds of thousands of top-flight graduates in science.

"Moreover, the UK and India can exploit a profound compatibility between our economies and the way we do business."

Straw said that it would like the bilateral relation to be a truly global collaboration on issues such as energy security, climate change, development and security.

He said, "India matters to the United Kingdom across a growing range of our domestic policy. Many Indian doctors and nurses work in British hospitals and in general practice."

"16,000 Indian students are studying at British universities, the Prime Minister and I, along with our Indian colleagues, are working to increase that number further. Thousands of Indian non-governmental organisations have links to civil society here in the UK."