Uma Kumaran, the British Minister of State for the Overseas Territories, the Caribbean and Global Technology, will make an inaugural trip to Bermuda next week, the Government announced today.

Ms Kumaran, who also holds responsibility for the ocean, will meet David Burt, the Premier, before signing the Hamilton II Declaration at a ceremony at Government House during her two-day trip to the island from October 18.

The declaration — which builds on the first Hamilton Declaration that created the Sargasso Sea Commission — aims to protect the Sargasso Sea under the High Seas Treaty.

It is a joint initiative by the Government of Bermuda and the UK to build global support for protecting the Sargasso Sea under the United Nations Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, also known as the BBNJ agreement.

The Government said the Hamilton II Declaration represents a significant milestone in international co-operation to support the conservation and sustainable use of the globally important Sargasso Sea.

It said the pact provides a voluntary, non-legally binding mechanism through which signatories can express political support for the future development of a collective area-based management tool proposal for the Sargasso Sea under the BBNJ agreement.

During her trip, Ms Kumaran will also hold bilateral meetings, be briefed on security and defence issues and participate in a women and girls round table discussion on domestic violence.

She will meet local industry representatives and visit the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science.

Ms Kumaran was appointed jointly as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and as Assistant Whip in July.

She was elected as the MP for Stratford and Bow in Britain two years earlier.

Ms Kumaran holds responsibility for Overseas Territories, the Caribbean, global technology and artificial intelligence, violence against women and girls as well as departmental operations.