India & UK aim to strengthen their defense ties.

With the signing of the 2030 Roadmap for India-UK Ties, which sets goals for the partnership over the next 10 years, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a crucial step forward for the future of India-UK relations. The UK government stated that it has begun preparations for a trade deal between the UK and India. The UK government has been hopeful that the consultation would yield additional information that will help guarantee that the deal is representative and that cooperation in future-oriented industries is secure. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is a longtime proponent of strong India-UK ties and a self-professed Indophile. The strategic importance of this economic partnership for the United Kingdom, which is based on strong cultural and diplomatic ties, had been highlighted in the UK’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development, and Foreign Policy, and will become even more so as the UK embarks on its proposed ‘Indo-Pacific tilt.’ The UK government had asked Prime Minister Modi to attend the G7 conference at Carbis Bay, in recognition of India’s critical security role in the area in the face of a growing China. 

The Roadmap is the first since the formal ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ agreement in 2005, and hopes for its ability to significantly enhance the partnership are divided. Recognizing the need to rectify the bilateral relationship’s falling importance – India has moved from being the UK’s second-largest trade partner in the late 1990s to 17th in 2019 – the UK Government hopes to restart this initiative with renewed vigour as part of its Global Britain strategy. The two countries aim to work together to combat cyber, space, criminal, and terrorist threats, with the goal of creating a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific region that maximises democratic participation and economic opportunity while fending off dangers presented by a growing China and now Russia. Because these are areas of competence for both countries, the UK and India will focus on research, innovation, and technology to build new capabilities in the defence and security realms. With long-running border issues with China in Eastern Ladakh, India is gradually recognising the value of increased defence and security cooperation with the UK, US, and EU, and the “roadmap” agreement is a significant first step in that direction. 

The Quad, a security alliance involving the United States, Japan, Australia, and India, had convened digitally for the first time during their first formal meeting. Following the summit, the Quad had vowed to work together on telecommunications, especially to expand and diversify 5G supply chains in order to counter China’s dominance. Despite the fact that the alliance did not specifically reference China, all four nations have banned Huawei’s 5G technology, acknowledging rising concerns and a shifting security paradigm. Increased defence cooperation between the UK and India will be crucial to the UK’s success in the Indo-Pacific area, and the deteriorating ties between India and China give a fresh chance to do so. 

Current Scenario:

Following a summit in New Delhi, recently, Britain and India have inked a new defence cooperation pact and  finalised a free trade agreement, which shall be implemented by the end of the year. The arrangement relies on an open general export licence for India to reduce delivery times for guns and other defence equipment. At the moment, only the European Union and the United States have such permits. According to the British High Commission, part of the British offer includes “next-generation” defence and security collaboration spanning land, sea, air, space, and cyber. The agreement, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, would assist New Delhi shift away from its reliance on Russia by boosting economic and defence relations with the West, including British backing for India’s domestic weapon manufacture.

The leaders have emphasised on the importance of strong defence industrial collaboration for manufacturing defence equipment, systems, spare parts, components, aggregates, and other related products and key capabilities under the Make-in-India programme, which includes co-development, indigenization, technology transfer, and the formation of joint ventures to meet the needs of India’s and other countries’ armed forces. They mentioned cooperation in important vital sectors including modern fighter aircraft and advanced core technology for jet engines. Both parties committed to collaborate bilaterally and with important partner nations to ensure Indian business had the best possible access to technology. Prime Minister Modi appreciated the United Kingdom’s offer of a ‘open general export licence’ to enable technical collaboration with India, as well as India’s open participation in the UK’s aviation and navy shipbuilding programmes.

Both nations have expressed zero tolerance for terrorism in all its forms – and for all those who encourage, support and finance terrorism or provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups – whatever their motivation may be. They have called upon all countries to work together to root out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupt terrorist networks and their financing channels, and halt cross-border movement of terrorists. The condemnation was reiterated for the terrorist attacks in India and the UK, including the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks. The importance of perpetrators of terrorist attacks being systematically and expeditiously brought to justice, and agreeing to work together to take concerted action against globally proscribed terrorist entities and individuals, is being emphasised by the two nations. The gratitude for the continuous collaboration through the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism (JWG-CT) is tremendous, particularly in terms of exchanging information and intelligence on terror organisations and persons. The two nations have agreed to form a counter-extremism sub-group within this framework in order to strengthen cooperation between the two sides in ensuring that all possible actions are taken against groups and individuals based in or operating out of either country who seek to incite violent extremism and terrorism, as well as those involved in financing such activities.

Conclusion:

The India-UK defence partnership will no longer be restricted to a buyer-seller relationship in the future. It will not, however, be limited to defence manufacturing. The two nations have the capacity to establish a genuinely comprehensive strategic relationship in action via close maritime cooperation and a coordinated approach to ensuring regional security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.