Fugitives Nirav Modi-Vijay Mallya extradition case
Fugitives Nirav Modi-Vijay Mallya extradition case
Amid India’s perennial push for extradition of billionaire fugitives Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi, British Security Minister Tom Tugendhat advocates that the United Kingdom has no intent in emerging as a place for those seeking to evade justice and hide.
In matters relating to extradition, the minister, without citing specific cases, affirms that legal processes must be adhered to.
He went on to add that both UK and India have legal processes that must be gone through.
Tugendhat was in India on a three-day visit from August 10-12 primarily to attend the G20 anti-corruption ministerial meeting in Kolkata.
While in Delhi, he held talks with External Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The British Security Minister was replying to a question on India’s persistent demand for extradition of a number of economic offenders including Mallya and Nirav Modi who are living in the UK.
Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant is wanted in India to stand trial on fraud and money laundering charges.
The 52-year-old businessman last year lost his legal battle in the highest UK court against being extradited to India in the estimated USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank loan scam case.
But as of now, his case is said to be “statute barred”, indicating further pending litigation.
Mallya, who fled to the United Kingdom in March 2016, is wanted in India over a default of ₹9,000 crore that was loaned to Kingfisher Airlines by several banks.
When asked on his talks with NSA Doval, the British Security Minister declined to share the details but noted that the broad bilateral cooperation is focused on security of the two nations and the prosperity of the citizens.
He added that they are talking about the security of the two nations and the prosperity of Indian Citizenscitizens, their ability to conduct their business at home and abroad
Moreover, they are also talking on the challenges they face and we’ve both made it clear in different ways that the challenge of China is one that faces us both and they are s witness to such incidents incidents on your northern border, but we’ve also seen the way in which technology has changed and the way in which we need to address it as areas in which we need to have greater cooperation.
He further said that they see today that India is not just a centre of Indian AI, it’s also a centre of British AI.
Adding further that there are many firms whose data points and data sources are located here, often in Bangalore, and using the extraordinary technical capabilities of Indian AI experts to analyse data and to improve the productivity of their businesse.
Tugendhat noted that this is a
fantastic benefit both to the United Kingdom and of course to India. And so ensuring that they are able to do that, so they are protecting our interests and we’re developing those technologies is absolutely essential to our common future.
The India-UK relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the India-UK virtual summit held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his then British counterpart Boris Johnson in May 2021.
At the summit, the two sides adopted a 10-year roadmap to expand ties in the key areas of trade and economy, defence and security, climate change and people-to-people connections among others.
News Edit K.V.Raman
