New Delhi, Mar 26 (PTI) British High Commissioner to India Lindy Cameron on Thursday said the UK is keen to see “de-escalation” in West Asia and eventually the conflict to come to an end besides resumption of oil flow in order to ensure it does not have a detrimental impact on its economy.
At an interactive session hosted at an event here, she also said the UK, however, is “supportive of defensive action to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, which is prolonging the conflict and causing damage to allies and people in the region”.
Cameron, who has been the British High Commissioner to India since April 2024, spoke at the Times Now Summit 2026.
Asked how the UK is looking at the West Asia conflict that began nearly four weeks ago and its impact, she said, “We are keen to see de-escalation.” “We are also worried about the impact on some of our allies in the wider Gulf, and I am sure you are too. And, we would like to see this end, frankly, and oil able to move again, so that the oil price doesn’t rise,” Cameron said.
Asked by when she felt this de-escalation could be achieved, she said, “I don’t have a crystal ball to gaze into to see how far this will go.” She urged that politicians will have to be “pragmatic and practical about the world we live in”.
The UK wants the conflict to come to an end, so that it can get back to working on ensuring better lives for the people, she said.
“We all need that return to economic stability. Conflict is bad for economic stability and conflict is bad for the global economy. So, we want to see peace,” the British envoy said.
“We are, however, obviously supportive of defensive action to prevent Iran from firing missiles across the region, which is prolonging the conflict and causing damage to allies and people in the region,” she added.
During the interaction, she was also asked if the rejection by the London High Court on Wednesday of the petition of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi to reopen his case against his extradition to India signified a “positive outcome” soon when it comes to his extradition. She declined to comment on it.
She only said, “I think it is really important that we don’t allow people to escape justice by fleeing across borders, and that is something definitely on which our two governments really agree.” Asked if diplomatic efforts are needed to achieve the extradition of fugitive economic offenders, the high commissioner said, “It’s not really about diplomatic cooperation, this is about the courts. So, to be frank, in both of our democracies, we have robustly independent judiciaries, who take views… governments have views, but the judiciary gets to decide in court.” The London High Court rejected the petition of Nirav Modi to reopen his case against his extradition to India, where he is wanted in connection with the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, officials said on Wednesday.
Rejecting Modi’s petition, the court observed that the petition and the circumstances surrounding it were not exceptional to make it appropriate to reopen the case, a CBI spokesperson said.
Modi has been in a UK prison since March 19, 2019.
Cameron was also asked about her India experience and the UK-India bilateral ties, and the free trade agreement signed between the two countries.
“So, it’s been an incredible year. I arrived two years ago, around the time of the last Indian elections (in 2024), just before the last British elections. And, I feel like since the two elections, we have taken the UK-India relationship to a new level,” she said.
The British envoy termed it a “modern relationship”, a relationship of “a modern India and a modern UK”, adding, “we were really excited about the trade deal”.
Cameron said, “We see only opportunity in that partnership, particularly in the world we live in right now.” On the India-UK trade agreement signed in 2025, she said, “We got a pragmatic trade deal that worked really well for both countries. We are excited.” “We think there is a real synergy between our economies and the future together is very exciting… I am sure we will see some implementation this year, hopefully this summer,” the envoy added.
India and the United Kingdom last July signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a bilateral free trade agreement marking a major milestone in their longstanding partnership.
On the West Asia situation, Cameron further said, “My first thoughts are with all the innocent people caught up in this awful war.” In many ways, the UK and India “share the attitude of calm, responsible powers that care about de-escalation, worry about the impact on the global economy, and, therefore, are interested in defending our people, our interests, our allies and acting in accordance with international laws, and not getting caught up in the wider conflict,” she added.
“We are keen to see de-escalation and keen to the resumption of oil flow in order to ensure it doesn’t have a detrimental impact on our economy,” the envoy said.
On US President Donald Trump’s relations with British PM Keir Starmer, she said, “Our prime minister has a long and deep relationship with President Trump, which he has nurtured over the whole time in his prime ministership.” Sometimes there are disagreements, “but we have a very special relationship with the US, and we will continue to have those conversations with him”. PTI KND KSS KSS
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