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PM asks UK to force Mallya, Lalit Modi back to India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday pressed upon his British counterpart Theresa May to ensure the UK's cooperation to bring back economic offenders, amidst India working hard for the return of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya and former IPL chief Lalit Modi. Mallya has been in the UK for months, escaping arrest warrants against him, while a court in London is also hearing a case regarding his return to India.
Modi on Saturday met May during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here and sought UK's help in this regard. Both leaders also talked about the complete range of India-UK ties.
In a tweet after the meeting, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the Prime Minister asked for UK's "cooperation for return of escaped Indian economic offenders". Asked whether India seeking cooperation from the UK was limited to Mallya or whether Lalit Modi was also mentioned, Baglay told reporters, "I don't want to get into the specifics but the phrase used in the tweet is escaped economic offenders and it is plural."
"These are the brief discussions at such forums where leaders mostly touch upon these top priority matters," he told reporters here. Baglay refused to comment directly on any question related to Mallya.
Meanwhile, India said on Saturday that it had "a major influence" on counter-terrorism discussions at the G20 Summit here with Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising the key issue with European leaders. "India had a major influence on counter terrorism discussions at the G20 and also played a significant role in talks on trade and investment, migration and climate change," Arvind Panagariya, sherpa for India at the Summit, said at a media briefing.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said counter-terrorism measures remained in focus during all discussions Modi had with European leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at the G20 Summit.
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