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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.

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Countries increasing their defense expenditure, stalwarting their dominance in the geopolitical scenario.

All revenue and capital expenditure on the armed forces, including peacekeeping forces of defence ministries and other government agencies engaged in defence projects, and paramilitary forces when judged to be trained, equipped, and ready for military operations, is referred to as defence expenditure. It typically reflects a country’s perception of the possibility of threats against it, as well as the level of aggressiveness it desires to use. It also provides an estimate of how much funding should be allocated for the future year. A budget’s size also reflects an organization’s capacity to support military actions. The size of that entity’s economy, other financial pressures on that entity, and the government’s or people’s willingness to pay such military activities are among the factors.

  • Capital expenditure refers to the money spent by the government on the development of machinery, equipment, buildings, health facilities, education, and other similar projects. It also includes the price of acquiring long-term assets like land and defence equipment, as well as government investments that will generate future revenues or dividends. These expenses result in the creation of assets, which allow the economy to produce income by expanding and improving production facilities and improving operational efficiency. It also improves labour participation, examines the economy, and boosts the economy’s future ability to create more.
  • Revenue expenditure refers to the portion of government spending that does not result in the creation of assets; such expenditures are spent to fulfil the government’s running needs. Salaries, salaries, pensions, subsidies, and interest are all examples of revenue expenditures. 

According to new figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, total worldwide military expenditure grew to $1981 billion in 2020, up 2.6 per cent in real terms from 2019. (SIPRI). The United States, China, India, Russia, and the United Kingdom were the top five spenders in 2020, accounting for 62 per cent of worldwide military spending. 

India’s budget allocation has continually increased over time. Between 2011-12 and 2020-21, defense spending climbed by 127 per cent. The distribution of this allocation between revenue and capital spending, on the other hand, is skewed, with revenue expenditure expanding faster than capital expenditure. The key driver of greater revenue expenditure growth is increased spending on defense pensions. To achieve India’s new set aim, ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat,’ the country’s drive toward an enduring indigenous defense manufacturing industry, as well as to build a strong upholding for the new system, more revenue spending will be required. India is also one of the world’s largest importers of military equipment. The nation has aimed to bolster the expenditure by increasing private sector involvement in defense production and research and development. Manufacturing still is moving slowly, but research and development is gaining traction. India’s total defense budget has increased at a rate of 9% per year over the last 10 years. 

Between 2011-12 and 2018-19, defence revenue spending increased by 140 per cent, while capital expenditure increased by 101 per cent. During the same time period, the percentage of the total defence budget spent on pensions increased from 18 per cent to 26 per cent.

Furthermore, China’s, regional expenditure growth slowed in 2020 as countries like Thailand, South Korea, and Indonesia lowered their defence budgets in order to finance emergency relief efforts in the aftermath of the outbreak. The majority of the time, expected growth was slashed rather than actual cutbacks to the previous year’s budget. Asia’s defence expenditure growth slowed to 4.3 per cent in 2020, down from 4.6 per cent in 2019, as a result of the slowdown in China and the rest of the region. Despite this, the region’s share of global defence spending is expected to rise to 25.0 per cent in 2020, from 17.8 per cent in 2010 and 23.2 per cent in 2015. Despite increased investment in Europe, this is expected to remain relatively flat in 2021. 

While in real terms, total European defence spending had increased by 2.0 per cent in 2020. This was a relatively smaller increase than the 4.1 per cent increase witnessed in 2019, and Europe’s proportion of global defence spending declined somewhat in 2020, from 17.8% to 17.5 per cent. However, over the previous years, average spending across European NATO members has gradually climbed as a percentage of GDP, rising from 1.25 per cent in 2014 to 1.52 per cent in 2019 and rising further to 1.64 per cent in 2020. This is still well below the NATO recommendation that its members aim to spend 2% of GDP on defence, despite the significant 7.0% average economic contraction expected in 2020. When it comes to spending on defence equipment, NATO’s European members maintained the higher investment share of defence spending that they achieved in 2019, allocating 23% on average in 2020, beyond the NATO-recommended level of 20%.

The defence expenditures in the Middle East and North Africa have declined, falling to US$150 billion (excluding security expenditure), while the percentage of global defence spending fell to 8.9%, down from 10.5 per cent in 2017. Despite dedicating by far the highest share of economic production to defence, at 5.2 per cent of GDP, compared to the world average of 2.08 per cent, the area continues to struggle. Other oil-dependent economies began to feel the pinch as well. Following a significant 3.8 per cent real rise in the core ‘national defence’ budget in 2020, Russia was only able to execute a minuscule 1.4 per cent increase in 2021, resulting in a 3.6 per cent real reduction. Total Russian military spending (which includes pensions, military housing, and health and social assistance) is expected to drop from over 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2020 to under 3.8 percent in 2023.

Conclusion:

Peace is important to maintain fruitful trade relations in a given region. However, this peace can only be achieved if military spending is done. Military spending builds military might. This power acts as a deterrent for aggressors. In the absence of military spending, opponents may view the nation as a soft target. Hence, even though local defense spending may be more expensive, it creates more value in the form of more robust national security and fewer disruptions to trade and commerce. If the defense system of a country is fully integrated, there are economic benefits to it. Defense expenditure is, without a doubt, an unambiguous demonstration of power, as current patterns of growing defense spending shows.

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