British PM Theresa May shakes hands with Indian PM Narendra Modi at 10 Downing Street (AP photo)

NEW DELHI: Counter-terrorism cooperation was high on the agenda as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with British counterpart Theresa May in London today. Modi and May agreed to take "decisive and concerted actions" against terrorism in all its manifestations, while also singling out Pakistan-based terror outfits.

"The leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation to take decisive actions against globally-proscribed terrorists and terror entities to protect citizens, including Lashkar-e-Tayibba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Haqqani Network, Al Qaeda, ISIS and their affiliates," a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) read.

Both leaders attested their commitment to crack down on radicalisation and re-affirmed their intent to cooperate with the other in neutralising terror outfits and their machinations in their homelands as well as on hostile territory.

"The leaders agreed that terrorist and extremist organisations need to be denied space to radicalise, recruit and conduct attacks on innocent people; for this all countries need to work together to disrupt terrorist networks, their financing and movement of terrorists," said the MEA.

During the discussion over breakfast at 10 Downing Street, Modi and May took stock of the entire gamut of India-UK relations in the post-Brexit era. The Indian Prime Minister assured May that Britain will be just as important to India after it leaves the EU as it is now.

"Prime Minister Modi said there would be no dilution in the importance of the UK to India post-Brexit," May's spokeswoman said in a statement.

In fact, Brexit offered opportunities to increase trade ties between Britain and India, Modi reportedly told May during the meeting. Presently the India-UK bilateral trade stands at $13 billion, with the UK among the largest G20 investors into India.

Further, the two heads of government discussed their shared priorities in the Indo-Pacific and committed to working more closely together to ensure it remained free and open.

"A secure, free, open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific is in the interests of India, the UK and the international community. The UK and India will also work together to tackle threats such as piracy, protect freedom of navigation and open access, and improve maritime domain awareness in the region," India and UK said in a joint statement.

The remark assumes significance given Beijing's aggression in the South China Sea and attempts to increase its footprint in the Indo-Pacific region.

Modi also raised the subject of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya's extradition to India while discussing economic offenders with May, reported news agency ANI.

MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told PTI the duo had wide-ranging talks on redefining and infusing new energy into the bilateral engagement between the two countries.

PM Modi is in the UK for a four-day visit of bilateral engagements as well as multilateral discussions as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Modi is then scheduled for a private audience with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace before the 'Bharat Ki Baat, Sabke Saath' diaspora event, to be telecast live from the iconic Central Hall Westminster in London today.

The event, billed as the centrepiece of the 'Living Bridge' theme of the India-UK bilateral visit, will involve Modi addressing questions from across the world which have already been received via social media.

At the end of the live telecast, he will join Heads of Government from 52 other Commonwealth countries at a dinner hosted by the British prime minister as a formal welcome to CHOGM.

This will be followed by the executive session of the heads in London tomorrow before they head to Windsor for the CHOGM retreat, where the world leaders will interact on an informal basis.

(With inputs from Agencies)

