UK defence minister accused of snubbing Sitharaman: Report

London: Britain's Defence Minister Gavin Williamson is reportedly under fire from within the UK Cabinet for turning down a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, according to a media report which she dismissed as a "baseless story".

The meeting was requested over a month ago by Indian officials, and at least two British ministers including foreign secretary Boris Johnson reportedly sought to convince Williamson of the importance of finding time in the diary for Sitharaman. Williamson, UK Secretary of State for defence, declined to meet Sitharaman's three-day window of bilateral talks on security cooperation and defence procurement between June 20 and 22, according to The Sunday Times.

Sitharaman took to Twitter to express her disappointment over the "baseless story".

"Disappointed, Sunday Times (UK). Baseless story, to say the least. The UK & India have a robust relationship. A mutually convenient date is being worked out for meeting & I look forward to it," she said.

The newspaper quoted a UK government source as saying that "People are spitting blood about this."

"India has one of the fastest-growing defence budgets in the world, spending something like USD 50 billion a year. It feels like another ill-judged move by Williamson," the source said.

The report said that Williamson has been accused of angering one of the world's largest emerging economies by snubbing his Indian counterpart.

Manoj Ladwa, the Founder of UK-India Week organised in London and Buckinghamshire between June 18 and 22, said: "It would of course have been really good if Williamson could have spared some time, but let's also not kid ourselves that the Indians will have lost too much sleep over it". The event, which included a two-day conclave and UK-India Awards, attracted a battery of senior political and business figures, including Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox, Culture Secretary Matt Hancock, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Foreign Office Minister Mark Field and Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable and the opposition Labour party representatives like Barry Gardiner.

From the Indian side, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar was joined by finance and railways minister Piyush Goyal via live video link from New Delhi. Sitharaman had been expected as the senior-most Indian attendee but the visit was put off as a meeting with Williamson did not work out.