'Hold fruitful bilateral discussions with UK'

New Delhi: Terming his recent visit to the United Kingdom a result-oriented, Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said that during a visit to the country from July 6-10, he held fruitful bilateral discussions with David Gauke, who is Secretary of State for Justice.

As per Prasad, both reviewed the entire gamut of India-UK bilateral cooperation in the legal sector. During the discussion, Gauke was briefed about the progress made in India in the field of ensuring access to justice for all, particularly using the power of technology through initiatives like tele-law, e-court services and digitisation of courts in India.

"The two ministers reiterated their commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation in legal matters, including arbitration, legal training and exchange of best practices, taking advantage of the shared common law heritage of the two countries," the ministry said in its official communiqué.

Both the ministers also discussed taking forward the exchange of legal practitioners on the basis of reciprocity in accordance with the prevailing legal provisions in their respective countries, the press note said.

Both the ministers also signed a MoU for enhancing bilateral cooperation in legal affairs which provides a framework for promoting greater co-operation between the judicial and legal professionals in both countries through the exchange of expertise and training. The MoU also provides for the establishment of a joint consultative committee to facilitate such exchange.

Prasad also met Jermy Wright, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports and the meeting took forward the positive momentum imparted to the bilateral relations following the successful visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UK for the CHOGM Summit in April 2018.