India–United Kingdom relations : Updates

British Naval vessels are the best after US, we need to co operate with them in that field.
No need the barak 8 vlastra combo is superior. Just hope we get a harpoon equivalent and induct nirbhays. We don't need much British assistance in naval except maybe engines.
 
Other than the snipers nothing else make sense. They do not have much to offer as products IMO
Yeah apart from their smart munitions and vshorads the British have nothing really great. Their armour doesn't fit well into indian doctrine or terrain. The sniper rifles are actually the least relevant in my opinion. The Americans have a lot of equally great rifles so do the Russians with the lobaev. Buying Accuracy international would have made more sense in early 2010's.
 
They will try to push all outdated tech and run over our indigenous programs. At the end of the day we wont become self sufficient but dependent on them. Its better to go case by case and have a one off transaction rather than having a so called broad based collaboration which will wipe our current programs. Remember all this comes at a price, they would expect to foot the majority of the bill.
My wishlist doesn't have any Indigenous equivalent in production or even in design. Star streak and mpdms are different in that starstreak can be used against ifv's too. So it's much more flexible and fits slightly different mission profile. They can complement indigenous hardware. they can't really replace.
 

‘Make-In-India’ Appeals To UK Industry, Minister For Defence Procurement of UK, Jeremy Quin Tells IA&D Editorial Director, Kamal Shah​

Indian Aerospace & Defence’s Editorial Director Kamal Shah spoke to Minister for Defence Procurement of the United Kingdom, Jeremy Quin on a series of poignant issues concerning joint defence development and production between both nations and the British Minister’s vision for Roadmap 2030 for India-UK in this exclusive interview.


Q. How does the UK plan to support India in the development of indigenous fighter jets, especially the Light Combat Aircraft MK2 programme?


Ans:
We view this as a hugely exciting project; the UK has already successfully collaborated with international partners to produce the highly advanced multi-role combat aircraft, the Eurofighter Typhoon. Similar collaboration continues at pace on our next generation Future Combat Aircraft System (FCAS). With the expertise of developing these aircraft, British industry can work with India on cutting-edge technology for development of its own Modern Fighter Aircraft, including the Light Combat Aircraft Mk2 and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).


The UK can collaborate with India on a range of requirements including design consultancy, development and integration of battle-winning complex weapons systems, and co-manufacture of critical components. India has also made good progress on its indigenous fighter jet programmes and support or partnership from the UK must acknowledge this fact.


Q. Under Roadmap 2030, how does the UK intend to support India’s ambitions for manufacturing defence products & platforms in India?


Ans:
The 2030 Roadmap agreed in May 2021 outlined a commitment to embark upon a Strategic Collaborative Partnership on research, innovation, technology and industry to develop new defence and security capabilities. This included establishing a portfolio of collaborative projects together, some of which have been outlined in the Joint Statement issued following the Prime Minister’s visit to India in April 2022.


The Prime Minister is committed to collaboration on electric propulsion systems, jet engine advanced core technologies, modern fighter aircraft and shipbuilding programmes. A UK-India partnership in each of these areas will place India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat agenda at its core, by creating new intellectual property and enabling indigenous manufacturing.


Q. France has also promised technologies for developing new engines for future Advanced Multirole Combat Aircraft, how does the UK stand as a better option?


Ans:
Development of an indigenous jet engine is a strategic ambition for India, and the UK is a ready and willing partner. The UK has agreed to work bilaterally and with key partner countries to facilitate the highest level of access to technology to Indian industry for the creation of an indigenous engine. It is also important to note that the UK’s collaboration offer is for co-creation of a new engine core, rather than relying on ‘Transfer of Technology’. This approach will create new intellectual property, owned by India, for an engine tailor-made for India’s modern fighter aircraft requirements.


Q. India has shown its interest in UK’s electric propulsion systems for naval ships, how will the UK contribute to India’s indigenous efforts in this domain?


Ans:
The UK has developed maritime electric propulsion technology in partnership with industry for decades, culminating in world-leading capability currently in operation with our Royal Navy’s Destroyer and Aircraft Carrier fleets. An early collaboration between GE Power Conversion and Indian industrial partners is already exploring electric propulsion (EP) potential via India’s ‘Make-I’ programme.


Both Prime Minister’s recently announced the establishment of a Joint Working Group on India-UK Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership. The objective of this working group will be to foster military and industrial collaboration to deliver long-term indigenous maritime electric propulsion systems to India. Electric propulsion is a team sport and implementation of such a programme would create an entire EP ecosystem in India.


Again, we are at an early stage but the UK is willing and able to share a wealth of knowledge accumulated through decades of partnership between the Royal Navy and industry to develop and refine into the outstanding capability that exists today. An early Subject Matter Expertise Exchange has already taken place during the UK Carrier Strike Group visit to India in October last year, and we must maintain that momentum if our shared ambitions are to be met.


Jeremy Quin MP, UK Minister of Defence Procurement present alongside Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, Anurag Bajpai, Joint Secretary Defence Industrial Promotion, Dr Nalin Shinghal, CMD BHEL, Renuka Gera, Director (IS&P) BHEL, Syreeta Jeffs and Balaji Parthasarathy, Directors of GE Power Conversion, JP Srivastava, Executive Director (IS) during the signing of an MoU between BHEL Indian Navy, and UK’s GE Power Conversion aimed to boost Indian Navy’s indigenous efforts


Q. The British PM recently said that the security partnership would involve procurement “to meet threats across cyber and space domains as well.” What is the UK’s approach towards it and how do you see this being taken forward in the immediate future?


Ans:
Both Prime Ministers have made clear their shared desire to deepen bilateral ties and build shared security and prosperity. That includes closer defence and security collaboration across the five domains – land, sea, air, space and cyber – as our nation’s face complex new threats. We both rely heavily on space and cyberspace for critical daily services that influence our civil, commercial and military sectors.


In space, we will continue cooperation through the cross-government bilateral Space Consultations. In cyberspace, we have agreed an Enhanced Cyber Security Partnership backed by £1million of funding in the first year. That will include collaboration on cyber governance, deterring state and non-state actors and increasing our collective resilience, including of critical national infrastructure. This vision is most clearly articulated in the Joint Cyber Statement issued during PM Johnson’s visit to India in April.


Q. India has just begun the process of raising a Space command. Space warfare as a strategic concept has increased in the past few years. How do you see UK-India collaboration with this regard in helping India raise the space command?


Ans:
India is a very capable space actor with a long history of space exploration and research. The UK also has a proud history of activity in space and in April, this year declared Initial Operating Capability of our own Space Command. We are happy to share lessons from its establishment.


Under the British National Space Strategy, the UK has brought together our civil and defence activities into one integrated approach and our recently published Defence Space Strategy supports the national ambition. As we continue to implement our strategies, and as India starts along a similar path, collaboration between our two countries will be about what we can learn from each other to ensure that space remains safe and sustainable, and that we can protect and defend our countries’ interests.


Q. What is your assessment of Prime Minister Modi’s dream project Make in India? What are the UK’s plans for it?


Ans:
It is an exciting opportunity and ‘Make in India’ appeals to the UK industry under the right conditions. We have seen significant interest in the recently announced Government-funded ‘Make-I’ programmes. We hope for similar levels of collaboration as seen via ‘Make-II’, which witnessed its first successful implementation via a UK-India partnership to develop manoeuvrable expendable aerial targets.


Q. In your observation and experience, how do British (multi-national with British branches too) defence companies look at Indian Armed Forces modernisation? What are the areas that need immediate improvement?


Ans:
Although British industry have good awareness of the modernisation plans for the Indian Armed Forces, the challenge has traditionally existed in successfully offering solutions compliant with India’s evolving Defence Acquisition Procedures. The combination of DAP 20, ‘Make’ policies and positive indigenisation lists have clearly laid out the way forward in this regard.
 

Joint outcome statement: India-UK round four FTA negotiations​

Round four of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of India and the United Kingdom.

On 24 June 2022, the Republic of India and the United Kingdom concluded the fourth round of talks for an India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Negotiation officials undertook these technical talks in a hybrid fashion – with some of the teams meeting in London and the majority of officials joining virtually.

For this round of negotiations, detailed draft treaty text was advanced across the majority of chapters. Technical experts from both sides came together for discussions in 71 separate sessions covering 20 policy areas.

The fifth round of negotiations is due to take place in July 2022 in New Delhi.
 

UK and India announce joint Commonwealth Diplomatic Academy​

The foreign ministers of the UK and India have announced a joint India-UK Commonwealth Diplomatic Academy programme.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss speaking with External Affairs of India Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali.

Foreign ministers of the UK and India have today announced the establishment of a joint India-UK Commonwealth Diplomatic Academy programme.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said:
In an increasingly geopolitical world, we must champion the Commonwealth values of democracy and sovereignty. The UK and India are helping to build a modern Commonwealth fit for the 21st century and delivering tangible benefits for its members.

That’s why we are working together on a new Commonwealth Diplomatic Academy programme, which will equip young diplomats with expertise and training they will need to tackle the global challenges we face.

Graduates from the programme will play a crucial role in delivering a rejuvenated Commonwealth united in support of self-determination.

A joint statement by the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, the Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP, and External Affairs Minister of India, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the establishment of an India-UK Commonwealth Diplomatic Academy programme:
Reflecting their shared commitment to the Commonwealth, Foreign Secretary Truss and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar met in Kigali this week and welcomed a successful Commonwealth Heads of Government summit.

Foreign Secretary Truss and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar underlined the value they place on a strong and revitalised Commonwealth family, fit for the 21st century and delivering clear value and tangible benefits for all members.

Both Ministers are pleased to announce that a joint India-UK Commonwealth Diplomatic Academy programme is to be hosted in New Delhi, India. The Academy programme will equip young diplomats from all Commonwealth Member States with expertise and training on global challenges.

They underlined the UK and India’s commitment to delivering a truly connected, innovative and transformative future for the Commonwealth family which supports the needs and expectations of all Member States.
 

India, UK sign 3 pacts including on recognition of higher education degrees​

India and the UK on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) officially recognising each other’s higher education qualifications, which will pave the way for greater mobility for Indian students to take up postgraduate courses in Britain.

The MoU, part of the India-UK enhanced trade partnership agreed on by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson last year, means A-levels and their equivalents and undergraduate and postgraduate degrees will be recognised in India. Indian senior secondary school or pre-university certificates will be accepted for entry to Britain’s higher education institutions.

The two sides also signed two more pacts – a framework agreement on negotiating a system of mutual arrangements for recognising the qualifications and licences of different categories of nursing professionals, and an MoU for recognising the certification of Indian sailors for service on UK-flagged vessels.

The MoU on recognising educational qualifications will allow Indian students who graduate from British universities to apply for postgraduate courses or to embark on government careers requiring university qualifications on returning home.
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Commerce secretary BVR Subrahmanyam told reporters that British degrees will be recognised as equivalent to Indian degrees, though degrees in professional fields such as medicine, pharmacy, engineering and architecture will not be covered under the MoU.

The MoU will increase the potential for British nationals to study in India and open the door for institutions to create courses that can be taught in both countries.

The UK received 84,555 Indian students in 2020-21 and India is a popular destination for British students studying abroad as part of the Turing Scheme international education programme.

Britain’s international trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “Now, we are delighted to deliver on our promise to unblock barriers to trade between our two nations and make UK higher education even easier to access and more appealing to Indian students.”


The framework agreement for collaboration on the healthcare workforce envisages the UK working with India’s health ministry to support improved nurse training in Indian states for candidates seeking to work in the National Health Service (NHS). Such training will be based on existing national standards in the UK, including the level of English language proficiency required by professional regulators.

The UK will also identify opportunities to develop improved training for nursing specialities such as mental health, critical care, emergency care, palliative care, and neonatal intensive care. There will also be collaboration in bridging skill gaps and training through engagement between professional bodies and regulators in India and the UK.

The two sides will also develop a plan of action to identify initial batches of applicants in India and employers in the UK to ensure a smooth transition into employment in the NHS.


India-UK trade is currently worth more than £24 billion and the two sides are currently engaged in negotiations to finalise a free trade agreement by August 31 so that it can be signed by October. However, the ongoing political turmoil in Britain has raised questions as to whether the two sides can achieve this ambitious timeline.