UK minister arrives in India to launch regional tech alliances

New Delhi [India], May 11 (ANI): Matthew Hancock, the UK Secretary for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has arrived in New Delhi for a three-day visit to participate in UK-India Tech Partnership to launch regional alliances that is expected to pave the way for a raft of new deals bringing jobs and investment to both the countries.
The summit shall focus on virtual reality and artificial intelligence.
Hancock is expected to confirm the partnership with Midlands Engine with Maharashtra with a focus on future mobility including low emission and autonomous vehicles, battery storage and vehicle light weighting.
Further, Northern Powerhouse will be linked to Karnataka with a focus on data, augmented and virtual reality, advanced materials and artificial intelligence (AI).
Hancock also wished to connect other regions of India and the United Kingdom.
This comes after the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to London where the two sides had announced a partnership between the two countries in the field of technology, institutions, and businesses and develop a new UK-India Tech Hub in Delhi.
Further, development of a new UK-India Tech Hub in Delhi will also be discussed during the visit.
In Delhi, Hancock will address the Indian tech industry body NASSCOM, meet leading Indian firms including Paytm, Quatrro and DevITPL, and confirm a new UK-India Tech Thought Leadership Summit to be held in India later this year.
He will also meet with the UK and Indian investors to lay the foundations for new deals in areas such as fintech, cybersecurity, health-tech and smart cities and launch the expanded Tech Rocketship awards, which helps Indian tech start-ups establish their businesses in the UK, boosting fresh innovation in Britain.
In Mumbai, he will champion the UK's artificial intelligence and fintech industries at an event hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian business leaders. This will build on recent agreements for the UK's financial services industries to work closer together and build stronger economic links between London and Mumbai.
"The UK and India are global leaders in tech and by deepening our ties we can open up huge opportunities for business and citizens in both countries. Our new UK-India Tech Partnership will not only lay the foundations for new investment, growth and jobs, but it will also boost collaboration on the technologies of the future that will improve and revolutionise our lives," Hancock said.
He will be the first cabinet minister to visit the country following Prime Minister Modi's visit to the UK for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) last month, where the countries announced one billion pounds worth of new commercial deals and more than 5,500 tech jobs.
Hancock will also promote the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the ECB's new South Asia Strategy and will agree to work closely with India to tackle match-fixing and anti-doping in sport.
He will visit the National Museum's 'India in the World' Exhibition developed in partnership with the British Museum, and support newly launched BBC World Service language services at the World Service Delhi Bureau. (ANI)