Meeting modi logical next step, says UK minister

UK’s minister of state for the foreign office Hugo Swire on Wednesday met Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, and later said it was “a logical next step” in his country’s relations with Gujarat. The meeting comes after UK decided to re-engage with the state recently, ending the boycott post-2002 riots. Mr Swire is the first minister from UK, or for that matter any European country, to meet Mr Modi after the riots. The meeting took place in Gandhinagar, the state capital. “My visit today has been the logical next step since our decision to re-engage with the democratically elected leadership of this important state,” Mr Swire said, after the 30-minute-long meeting with Mr Modi. While Mr Modi said the UK-Gujarat ties were now on a fast track. The UK minister, however ,evaded reply when asked whether he invited Modi to visit UK. “What you are witnessing is gradual scaling up of the relations between Gujarat and UK. First our high commissioner visited Gujarat in October last year, and it is followed by my visit today,” he said. The UK which, had boycotted Modi government after the 2002 riots citing large-scale human rights violations, changed the policy last October, just before the Gujarat elections. “I am confident that active engagement is the best way to pursue British interests in Gujarat. This includes support for the British nationals in Gujarat, for the large Gujarati community in the UK, for human rights, and good governance,” Mr Swire said.