India has strongly underlined its interest in the expeditious extradition of former Kingfisher Airlines chief Vijay Mallya, who has completed all the legal processes related to extradition from the UK, during talks between Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in London.
On the last leg of his three-nation Europe tour, Shringla has been holding discussions in London with several UK ministers and officials and during his interactions with Patel and UK Foreign Office Minister for South Asia, Lord Tariq Ahmad, on Tuesday, the issue of economic offenders being extradited to face the Indian judicial system was among the issues raised.“We strongly underlined our interest in seeing the early, expeditious extradition of Vijay Mallya, who is an economic offender who has completed all extradition procedures in the UK. We would like him to return to India as soon as possible,” said Shringla.
Mallya, wanted in India over fraud and money laundering charges in relation to loans taken out by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines from state-owned Indian banks, has been found to have a case to answer in India by the UK courts. He is currently on bail, undergoing a “confidential” legal issue before Priti Patel can consider signing off on his extradition order. On the other hand, Nirav Modi, the fugitive diamond merchant accused of fraud and money laundering in relation to the state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB), is currently lodged in Wandsworth Prison in London as he fights his extradition to India at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.Shringla arrived in London following visits to Paris and Berlin on Tuesday and has held a series of meetings to cover a wide range of issues, including the India-UK vaccine partnership in a post-coronavirus world and climate change as well as highlighting India’s outlook on the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific region.
On India-UK bilateral ties, the Foreign Secretary noted the backdrop of Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) paving the way for a reset in the relationship – both with the UK and the EU.
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