Foreign Secretary discussed issue of extradition of Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya during UK visit

New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla during his two-day visit to the UK last week had discussed the issue of the return of economic offenders among other matters, the MEA said on Thursday, as India is trying to get Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi extradited.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, in answer to queries at his media briefing, said several issues of bilateral interest were discussed by the Foreign Secretary during his July 23-24 visit. These included “implementation of the migration and mobility partnership, global innovation partnership, climate action, return of economic offenders, defence and security ties, regional issues including Afghanistan, UNSC and Commonwealth matters”.

India is seeking the extradition of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi in the US$ 2 billion Punjab and National Bank scam case, and of Vijay Mallya who owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India.

Bagchi in other remarks regarding the Foreign Secretary’s visit said that Shringla had visited the UK “to conduct a review of our comprehensive strategic partnership launched at the India-UK Virtual Summit between the two Prime Ministers on May 4.

“Foreign Secretary held detailed meetings with his counterparts and also met a cross section of opinion builders including think tanks and parliamentarians. In the discussions, the implementation of the India-UK Roadmap 2030 was assessed.”

“The need for early removal of restrictions imposed on travel from India and the mutual recognition of Covid vaccination certificates was raised,” he said. (UNI)