Jaishankar meets new UK counterpart David Cameron, discusses West Asia, Ukraine conflict

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on an official visit to the United Kingdom, met the country’s newly appointed Foreign Secretary David Cameron on November 13.

The meeting came hours after a cabinet reshuffle led to the shock return of Cameron, a former two-time UK prime minister, into the country’s politics.

While a detailed statement was not immediately shared, Jaishankar took to social media to note that the Ukraine conflict, along with the “situation in West Asia” – an apparent reference to the Israel-Palestine row – was discussed by the two leaders.

A discussion around the “Indo-Pacific” also took place during the talks, the Indian foreign minister’s post on social media platform X suggested.

“A pleasure to meet UK Foreign Secretary @David_Cameron this afternoon on his first day in office. Congratulated him on his appointment (sic),” Jaishankar tweeted.

“Held a detailed discussion on realizing the full potential of our strategic partnership,” he added, further stating, “Also exchanged views on the situation in West Asia, the Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific. Look forward to working with him closely.”

Amidst the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, both India and the UK have refrained from calling for an immediate ceasefire. Both of them have called for de-escalation of violence in the besieged Gaza Strip and the upholding of international law.

On October 28, India was among the 45 countries that abstained from the vote in the United Nations on a resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza, whereas, the UK was among the 14 countries that opposed the resolution. A total of 120 countries had voted in its favour.

India and the UK, however, were among the 145 countries that voted in favour of a UN resolution on November 9 that condemned “Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan”.