The UK sought to strengthen ties with India in order to tackle terrorism and extremism on Wednesday, offering a technology transfer the co-production of military weapons.
Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon underlined the need for “India and the UK to work even harder, and more closely” to combat terrorism, on a state visit to India this week.
Fallon will chair the first India-UK strategic dialogue on Thursday alongside Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley, talks which were agreed to in November 2015 during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to London as part of the bilateral defence and international security partnership.
India and the UK have already worked together on a number of security and military issues, including the joint development of a combat ready aircraft that will be available for neighbouring countries in order to counter the growing Chinese penetration of the defence market in the region.
British focus on India has increased since the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, as the country strives to further ties with countries outside of the region. Fallon said the combination of “British expertise and experience with Indian intelligence and brainpower” could be game-changing in the defence production sector.
“In next 12 months I want to see the capability partnerships take off. We, together, can be world-beaters”, he added.