PM Modi, Boris Johnson bat for security and prosperity, to elevate India-UK defence, civil nuclear ties

This is PM Johnson's first visit to India as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and follows his Virtual Summit with Prime Minister Modi in May 2021 where both leaders agreed to elevate India-UK relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, underpinned by a shared commitment to democracy, fundamental freedoms, multilateralism, and a rules-based international order.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Modi held delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Johnson here on Friday, where they welcomed the intensification of bilateral engagements since the Virtual Summit and the positive momentum in cooperation across the full spectrum of bilateral relations.

As the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, both leaders reiterated the need to focus on sustained economic recovery and work towards building national resilience and trusted partnerships to mitigate external disruptions, the statement from the Ministry of External Affairs read.

This is PM Johnson's first visit to India as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and follows his Virtual Summit with Prime Minister Modi in May 2021 where both leaders agreed to elevate India-UK relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, underpinned by a shared commitment to democracy, fundamental freedoms, multilateralism, and a rules-based international order.

The visit is also taking place at a significant time as the two countries celebrate 75 years of bilateral ties and India is commemorating the 75th anniversary of her Independence. Both Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the progress in implementation of the ambitious Roadmap 2030 for India-UK future relations that was launched at the Virtual Summit and appreciated its regular review by External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar and UK Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss.

They further mandated their teams to identify high-impact projects for time-bound implementation in each of the pillars of the Roadmap. Both leaders also expressed their desire to steer bilateral relations towards a Vision 2047 for the shared security and prosperity of their people and the planet.

Trade and Prosperity

The leaders welcomed the strong resilience shown by the economies of India and the UK and the positive growth in bilateral trade showcasing the potential to double trade by 2030, as envisaged in the Roadmap 2030. They expressed satisfaction at the progress made under the Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) and called for early resolution of all pending market access issues in a balanced manner.

They looked forward to finalizing the mutual recognition of qualifications and a framework for nursing staff and agreed to continue cooperation on outstanding areas related to social security arrangements and legal services.

The two leaders welcomed the launch of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations in January 2022 in New Delhi. They noted with satisfaction that good progress had been made already and that the agreement of an FTA would unlock the full potential of the trade and commercial relationship, boosting jobs, investment, and exports.

They set a target to conclude the majority of talks on a comprehensive and balanced Free Trade Agreement by the end of October 2022. They acknowledged the increasing investment flows between the two nations and welcomed the progress made in the 11th Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), recalling commitments to cooperate closely on COVID-19 recovery, climate finance, services trade, and multilateral engagement.

Both the leaders looked forward to furthering cooperation through the EFD, including intensifying cooperation in financial services, banking, insurance, fintech, green bonds, sustainable finance, and capital market sectors and promoting collaboration between regulators and stakeholders.

They specifically highlighted the successful India-UK collaborations between GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, India's first International Financial Service Centre) and the UK's financial services ecosystem and agreed to develop greater linkages between the two countries’ financial markets. They noted the successful resolution of recent taxation issues as a positive step to further strengthen investor confidence on both sides.

Prime Minister Modi welcomed the UK's commitment to public finance to the tune of USD 1 billion investment through British International Investment (BII) (previously CDC Group), the UK’s Development Finance Institution, into climate-related projects in India throughout 2022-2026. They expressed satisfaction at the success of the India-UK Green Growth Equity Fund anchored by India’s National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), in mobilizing an additional USD 425 million to support green infrastructure projects in India, and agreed to build on ten years of successful collaboration under India-UK development capital investment partnerships.

Prime Minister Modi welcomed the UK’s guarantee of USD 1 billion World Bank lending to support India to develop green infrastructure. Both leaders also welcomed the finalization of the India-UK Global Innovation Partnership (GIP) implementation arrangements in the field of trilateral development cooperation, wherein India and the UK will co-finance up to USD 100 million over 14 years to support the transfer and scale-up of climate-smart inclusive innovations from India to third countries in Asia, Africa, and the Indo-Pacific and accelerate the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The two leaders reaffirmed their desire to strengthen India-UK civil nuclear cooperation and welcomed the UK’s renewed collaboration with Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) for jointly promoting research and training on nuclear energy studies, radioactive applications, nuclear security, and safety.

They looked forward to the early conclusion of negotiations on a renewed and strengthened India-UK Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. They also expressed the shared interest of the two countries in advancing nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. They noted the productive discussions held at the Space consultations in 2021 to advance bilateral civilian cooperation including on space trade, commerce, and international initiatives in the field of outer space including at the UN.

They agreed to deepen cooperation at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on their shared goals, including restoring confidence and trust in the multilateral system. Both sides reiterated their commitment to sustained engagement through the India-UK Multilateral Trade Dialogue and other mechanisms, as appropriate. The two countries looked forward to a successful 12th WTO Ministerial Conference and reaffirmed their commitment to the fundamental principles of the WTO, free and fair trade, and the reform of the WTO.

Defense and Security

Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Johnson reiterated their commitment to transform defense 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.

They welcomed the progress made on their commitments in the 2030 Roadmap. They recalled the successful visit of the UK's Carrier Strike Group (CSG) to India in October 2021 and the first tri-service exercise between UK and Indian forces, the inclusion of the UK’s Liaison Officer in India’s Information Fusion Centre, and the first annual India-UK Maritime Dialogue.

The leaders agreed to deepen cooperation, including by quickly resolving legacy issues and intensifying cooperation as trusted partners under the India-UK Defence and International Security Partnership framework.

They welcomed the finalization of the Letter of Arrangement between the UK’s Defence Science & Technology Laboratory and India's Defence Research & Development Organisation to help deliver advanced security capabilities through joint research, co-design, co-development, and joint production of defense technology and systems - particularly in key and emerging military technologies.

In that regard, they welcomed the establishment of a Joint Working Group on India-UK Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership to foster military and industrial collaboration in maritime Electric Propulsion systems.

The leaders noted the importance of robust defense industrial collaboration for manufacturing of defense equipment, systems, spare parts, components, aggregates, and other related products and key capabilities, under the Make-in-India program through co-development, indigenization, 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. Both sides agreed to work bilaterally and with key partner countries to facilitate the highest level of access to technology in the Indian industry. Prime 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 programs.

The leaders agreed that the finalization of the Logistics and Training MoUs will deepen understanding and trust and enable further collaboration and cooperation between the two nations. They agreed to expand cooperation in the maritime domain and called for an early conclusion of the Maritime Information Exchange Arrangement on dark and grey shipping. They also called for increased engagements in critical and emerging domains of defense including space, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and cyber.
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.

16. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to free, open, peaceful, and secure cyberspace and welcomed the progress under the enhanced India cyber security partnership to tackle shared cyber threats including critical national infrastructure. They outlined commitment, in a Joint Cyber Statement, to deepen cooperation across cyber governance, deterrence, and strengthening cyber resilience.

Health

2Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Johnson expressed deep pride and appreciation for their nations' close cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, as Governments, civil societies, businesses, and diaspora communities mobilized in unprecedented ways to share emergency relief supplies during each country’s times of need.

Both Prime Ministers recalled the highly successful collaboration on the AstraZeneca/Oxford University Vaccine with the Serum Institute of India (SII). They agreed to closely work together to strengthen the global response to future health emergencies and advance the ambitious plan to develop vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics in 100 days, including vaccine development under the framework of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) initiative.

They welcomed the launch of the Indian arm of the RECOVERY global clinical trial of COVID-19 therapeutics with the support of the Indian Council of Medical Research, and a new UK-India partnership through the Fleming Fund to tackle anti-microbial resistance. They welcomed recent investments by SII in the UK, which focused on vaccine research, development, and manufacturing.