Way back in 2002, former defence minister George Fernandes of the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led BJP government visited the UK. After that, it took more than 22 years for the current Defence Minister Rajanth Singh to embark on a two-day trip to Britain on January 8. The visit will bring crucial issues to the forefront, from New Delhi’s defence manufacturing ambitions to the Sikh separatist movement. According to experts, London’s Indo-Pacific tilt and a debate around intellectual property rights (IPR) may feature prominently in the discussions between both sides.
“It has been a long time; a visit has been scheduled. The UK is eager to strengthen their relationship with India due to their focus on the Indo-Pacific region as well as the Roadmap 2030 that was signed in May 2021,” according to Shaurya Chakra Colonel Dr Divakaran Padma Kumar Pillay.
Pillay is referring to the India-UK Roadmap to 2030 agreed upon by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former head of Britain Boris Johnson after a virtual meeting on May 4, 2021. During this meeting, the two sides also spoke of deepening their defence and security cooperation through the India-UK Defence and International Security Partnership framework and agreed to harness the strengths of Indian and British industries, government laboratories, and academia to help deliver the next generation of defence and security capabilities.
Apart from this, the UK has also articulated its goal to deeply engage in the Indo-Pacific by 2030 as the European partner with the broadest, most integrated presence in support of mutually beneficial trade, security aims, as well as shared values. This tilt towards this region is part of Britain’s recognition of the growing importance of powers in this region, including China, India, and Japan.
“In some way, the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt is the fulcrum around which the India-UK partnership revolves since it is central to Britain’s foreign policy reimagination. Britain has an interest in the Indian Ocean region, and they would want to work with India on that,” says Harsh V Pant, Vice President of Studies and Foreign Policy at the Observer Research Foundation.
Defence Minister Singh is largely expected to further the collaborations articulated by both sides in 2021. During the ongoing visit, Singh is expected to call on the UK’s Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and hold a meeting with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, David Cameron. He is also scheduled to interact with the heads and industry leaders of the UK defence industry.
The challenges
India’s challenges as it looks to extend its Atmanirbhar policies to the critical area of defence by increasing its manufacturing capacity are largely three-pronged: IPR, foreign investments, and indigenous content requirements. Foreign manufacturers have been for a long time wary of being India’s defence procurement partner due to the existing norms around these areas.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) has articulated this conundrum in an article published in November 2023. “Unsurprisingly, foreign manufacturers are reluctant to act as India’s defence procurement partner if it means losing control of their intellectual property. Manufacturers also fear that classified or proprietary information about their technologies might be released publicly as part of mandatory disclosures associated with enforcing Indian domestic ownership of intellectual property rights,” according to this article.
When it comes to foreign direct investment rules, though most defence projects are now subject to the 74 percent limit on foreign ownership, some larger projects are said to still fall under a different procurement category that requires them to adhere to the 49 percent rule, compelling such projects and their intellectual property to be Indian owned and controlled. New Delhi also has strict requirements regarding the level of indigenous content that must be present in defence manufacturing.
“This is difficult practically for foreign defence companies, which must replace products in their existing supply chains with ones that are made by Indian manufacturers and meet identical quality standards. Although individual branches of the Indian armed services can recommend lowering indigenous content requirements for niche technologies, they have not yet done so,” according to the article by IISS.
Pillay, who is currently a PhD research fellow at the Manohar Parikkar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, agrees. “Less than 3 percent of our defence requirements come from the UK. So the idea is to enhance that because the UK has what India is seeking in this area. India is making its third aircraft carrier, so companies in the UK can offer designs, but both sides have to resolve differences on IPR issues,” Pillay told Moneycontrol.
However, Pant believes that though British defence firms find India’s norms around IPR and indigenous content requirements restrictive, other nations have been able to engage with New Delhi despite these constraints. “The UK has the design capabilities to provide for India’s ambition to enhance its local manufacturing capacity, but that would require better synergies between the UK government and the British industries," he added.
India, one of the biggest importers of arms, has been actively promoting defence exports as a means of generating revenue and boosting the country's economic growth. India’s defence exports reached an all-time high of around Rs 16,000 crore in 2022-2023, with the nation now exporting to more than 80 countries worldwide, as per data from Invest India.
New Delhi and London are said to be inching closer towards developing marine electric propulsion for the Indian Navy's second indigenous aircraft carrier, or IAC-2, wherein the UK is helping New Delhi with its design capabilities.
The way ahead
Perhaps the most anticipated outcome of this high-profile visit by the defence minister would be how it could give a fillip to ongoing projects with Rolls-Royce, GE (Naval) UK, and MBDA (UK) that would help cater to India’s self-reliance push in the defence sector.
Another key issue that experts believe could very well be part of the discussions is Khalistani extremism. Pant says one can visibly see how differently London has approached New Delhi’s concerns over this issue compared to Canada.
“Both sides are aware of challenges and are working to ensure that one particular issue does not derail the momentum in the relationship between India and the UK. Authorities in Britain seem to be more aware of Indian sensibilities on this matter and have been regularly working with New Delhi on this to ensure that a broader derailment does not happen, and the current visit by the defence minister would further reinforce this commitment,” Pant, who is also a Professor of International Relations at Kings College London, said.
India has time and again expressed concerns over instances of pro-Khalistan violence in the UK and Canada. But, unlike London, bilateral relations between New Delhi and Ottawa plummeted as New Delhi rejected allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Indian government was involved in the killing of Sikh Separatist Leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who has been designated as a terrorist by India. Both sides have also paused negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA).
But talks for an FTA between India and the UK are currently ongoing in full force. And, given that general elections in India will take place around April or May 2024 and in the UK by January 2025, both nations have seemingly accelerated efforts to forge closer ties in strategic and commercial relations.
As Pant says, “India’s defence industrial policy has changed with a push towards self-reliance, and in that context, I would say that today New Delhi feels Britain can be an important defence industrial partner for the South Asian nation.”
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