The U.Ok. Navy will ship its Littoral Response Group to the Indian Ocean area later this yr, with plans for its Carrier Strike Group to go to India in 2025. Both will function and prepare with Indian forces, U.Ok. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has introduced.

He mentioned this as he held discussions with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who is on a two-day visit to the U.K. This is the primary go to by an Indian Defence Minister to the U.Ok. after over twenty years, the final go to was by George Fernandes in 2002.

“The two nations also discussed future cooperation in defence from joint exercises to knowledge sharing and instructor exchanges. These steps build on the comprehensive strategic partnership envisaged in the 2030 India-U.K. roadmap, announced in 2021,” the U.Ok. High Commission mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday. Deployment of the U.Ok.’s most superior naval capabilities mark a decisive step in bolstering the U.Ok.-India safety ties, it said.

Common challenges

In the approaching years, the U.Ok. and India will even embark on extra complicated workout routines between their respective militaries, constructing as much as a landmark joint train to be performed earlier than the tip of 2030, supporting shared objectives of “protecting critical trade routes and upholding the international rules-based system,” the assertion mentioned.

“There is absolutely no question that the world is becoming increasingly contested, so it’s vital that we continue to build on our strategic relationships with key partners like India. Together we share the same security challenges and are steadfast on our commitment to maintaining a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr. Shapps mentioned within the assertion.

Collaboration with business can be key within the strategic defence partnership between the U.Ok. and India, with the 2 nations working collectively on electrical propulsion methods that can energy our future fleets, and cooperating on the event of complicated weapons, the assertion famous.

Building on the present strategic partnership, the U.Ok. and India additionally confirmed a number of new joint initiatives through the go to. “Launching Defence Partnership-India – a bespoke office designed to further defence collaboration between the two countries,” the High Commission mentioned.

“Solidifying an agreement on logistics exchange, allowing for the provision of logistic support, supplies and services between the United Kingdom and Indian armed forces, for joint training, joint exercises, authorised port visits and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations,” the assertion added.

The two sides additionally signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for bilateral worldwide cadet alternate programme and in addition a Letter of Arrangement (LoA) on defence collaboration in analysis and improvement.