British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith said today that extradition of economic offenders to India from London is a judicial matter and the courts would address that.
Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines' default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has been in the UK since March 2016.
India has been pressing for cooperation from Britain in extradition of as many as 13 individuals, including Mallya, former IPL honcho Lalit Modi and cricket bookie Sanjiv Chawla.
"This is a legal-judicial matter, not one for the government to talk in separation...It is going through courts (and) the courts will address it in the way they do," he said here at a function.
He was replying to a question relating to several Indian economic offenders finding safe haven in Britain. He was speaking at a panel discussion organised by UKIBC.
On potential areas for increasing economic relations between the two countries, Asquith said that technology, climate, security and defence are some of the important sectors to enhance cooperation.
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Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ramesh Abhishek said that SMEs (small and medium enterprises) present one of the biggest opportunities for both the nations.
Technology, innovation and startups also hold a lot of scope for increasing collaboration, he said.
Abhishek said that lot of British companies had invested in India when business environment was somewhat complicated and now as the government has worked on significantly improving the investment climate. "The environment today presents much more opportunity for companies then ever before."
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