By Sofiat Adenekan-Abdul
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have discussed expanding cooperation on trade, defence and artificial intelligence.
The two leaders held talks in the United Kingdom on Wednesday evening, with discussions focused on strengthening bilateral relations and closer partnerships with European countries.
According to the UK Prime Ministerβs Office, Starmer and Carney stressed the importance of maintaining strong UK-Canada ties while increasing cooperation with European partners, particularly on trade and defence.
On defence, Starmer welcomed Canada as the first observer nation in the Global Combat Air Programme, GCAP, a multinational initiative to develop next-generation combat aircraft.
The leaders also discussed further defence cooperation through initiatives including the Multilateral Defence Mechanism and the Defence Security Resilience Bank.
They also examined the opportunities and challenges associated with the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
The talks form part of wider efforts by the two countries to strengthen cooperation on security, technology and economic issues.
