- New Delhi, April 22. India and the United Kingdom will jointly research, design, develop and produce defence technology and systems, “particularly in key and emerging military technologies”, as per a decision taken in the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart Boris Johnson on Friday. A joint statement issued by India and the UK said, “They welcomed the finalisation of the Letter of Arrangement between the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), to help deliver advanced security capabilities through joint-research, co-design, co-development and joint production of defence technology and systems – particularly in key and emerging military technologies.” The two leaders welcomed the establishment of a Joint Working Group on India-UK Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership with the goal of fostering military and industrial collaboration in maritime Electric Propulsion systems. The leaders noted the importance of robust defence industrial collaboration for manufacturing of defence equipment, systems, spare parts, components, aggregates and other related products and key capabilities, under the Make-in-India program through co-development, indigenisation, transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Armed Forces of India and other countries. “They noted cooperation in key areas of strategic collaboration including Modern Fighter Aircraft and Jet Engine Advanced Core Technology,” the joint statement said. Both sides agreed to work bilaterally and with key partner countries to facilitate highest level access to technology to the Indian industry. Modi welcomed the UK announcement of an ‘open general export license’ to facilitate technology engagement with India, and the open opportunity for India to participate in the UK’s aviation and naval shipbuilding programmes. “Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Johnson reiterated their commitment to transform defence and security cooperation as a key pillar of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and “enhance engagements in support of a free, open and secure Indo Pacific,” added the statement. The two leaders agreed to deepen co-operation, including by quickly resolving legacy issues and intensifying cooperation as trusted partners under the India-UK Defence and International Security Partnership framework. India and UK agreed to expand cooperation in the maritime domain and called for early conclusion of the Maritime Information Exchange Arrangement on dark and grey shipping. They also called for increased engagements on critical and emerging domains of defence including space, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber, the joint statement added. The two Prime Ministers looked forward to the convening this year of the Defence Ministerial Dialogue, which would be an important step to ensure that all the necessary framework agreements are in place. Modi and Johnson reaffirmed their commitment to a free, open, peaceful and secure cyberspace and welcomed the progress under the enhanced India cyber security partnership to “tackle shared cyber threats including to critical national infrastructure.” The Joint Cyber Statement by the two countries outlined the commitment of the two countries to deepen cooperation across cyber governance, deterrence and strengthening cyber resilience. Modi and Johnson 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, the Joint statement said. The two leaders 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. They reiterated their condemnation of terrorist attacks in India and the UK, including the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks. “They emphasised the importance of perpetrators of terrorist attacks being systematically and expeditiously brought to justice, and agreed to work together to take concerted action against globally proscribed terrorist entities and individuals,” the joint statement said. The two leaders also agreed to constitute a sub-group, within the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, on countering extremism in order to further enhance 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, seeking to incite violent extremism and terrorism and who are involved in financing such activities, the joint statement said.
