India, UK decide to deepen defence ties, aim at closing FTA by October

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Friday agreed on a new and expanded India-UK defence partnership, which will include support for new Indian-designed and built fighter jets, and signalled that an ambitious free trade pact to stimulate broad-based economic engagement could be wrapped up by October.

After his wide-ranging talks with Modi on the second and final day of his India visit, Johnson said the new defence and security partnership will enable India to strengthen its domestic defence industry as well as help the two countries protect vital shared interests in the Indo-Pacific.

The British prime minister also announced that the UK is creating an Open General Export Licence (OGEL) for India to "reduce bureaucracy and slashing delivery times" for defence procurement and that London will help New Delhi in the co-development of military hardware including indigenous production of fighter jets.

During their talks, the two prime ministers deliberated on the situation in Ukraine and expressed in the strongest terms their concern about the ongoing conflict and humanitarian situation in that country.

A joint statement said Modi and Johnson "unequivocally condemned" the civilian deaths, and reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution of the conflict, which was having severe implications across the globe, in particular for developing countries."

At a media briefing, Foreign Secretary, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, said Johnson did not put pressure on India on its position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including adherence to the sanctions against Moscow. The British prime minister said it is clear that Modi has intervened several times in asking Russian President Vladimir Putin what on earth he thinks he's doing and where he thinks this is going.

"I think you have to recognise that Indians and Narendra Modi, in particular, came out with very strong language on what's happened in Bucha. ..Talking to PM Modi, it is clear he has already intervened several times with Vladimir Putin," he said.

"What the Indians want is peace in Ukraine and they want Russians out and I totally agree with that," Johnson said, adding India and the UK have greater convergence on various challenges facing the world. At the same time, he said India-Russia ties are historically well-known and they are not going to change it.

"The situation around the world is obliging the UK and India to do more together... The Russia-India ties are historically well-known and they are not going to change that," he said.

The British prime minister said both sides agreed to work together to meet new threats across land, sea, air space and cyber domains and that the UK will help India develop its defence manufacturing as well as in the maritime sphere to detect and respond to threats in the oceans.

He said the threats of "autocratic coercion" have grown further and it is vital that India and the UK deepen their cooperation including protecting shared interest in keeping the Indo-Pacific open and free.

"Today we've agreed on a new and expanded defence and security partnership, a decades-long commitment that will not only forge tighter bonds between us but support your goal, Narendra of 'Make in India'," he said, describing Modi as his "Khas dost" (special friend).

Referring to the free trade agreement (FTA), Johnson said both sides wanted the negotiators to close the deal before Diwali in October.

The British prime minister said India is an "incredible rising power in Asia" with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and set to be the third-largest economy by 2050.

In his comments, Modi said, "good progress" is being made in the negotiations for the FTA and that both sides have decided to do their best to close the pact by the end of this year.

The statement said Modi welcomed UK's commitment to public finance to the tune of 1 billion pounds investment through British International Investment (BII), the UK's Development Finance Institution, into climate-related projects in India over the period of 2022-2026.

"On this visit alone we've secured new deals worth 1 billion pounds, creating more than 11,000 jobs," Johnson said.

On the Ukraine crisis, Modi stressed on an immediate ceasefire and resolution of the problem through dialogue and diplomacy.

"We also reiterated the importance of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries," he said.

India conveyed to the UK that bringing back economic fugitives to face justice was a "high priority" for the government. Johnson indicated that he was "very sensitive" to these concerns and said Britain doesn't welcome people who want to use its legal system to evade the Indian laws.

India has been pressing the United Kingdom to extradite Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi to face trial in India for their alleged involvement in cases relating to financial fraud.

Briefing reporters on the wide-ranging talks between Modi and Johnson, Shringla said India's objective is to bring back economic fugitives who are wanted in India to face justice in the country and the matter did come up in the deliberations between the two leaders.

"On the issue of economic offenders, you are aware that we have been pursuing this matter for some time at different levels with the UK. Our objective is to bring back those economic fugitives who are wanted in India to face justice in the country and the matter did come up in today's talks," Shringla said.

Noting that it was conveyed by the Indian side that this is a "high priority", he said the UK side was told that the coming back of economic offenders that are in the UK soon was important from the perspective of our justice system.

"He (Johnson) took note of the point raised by us and he indicated that he was very sensitive to Indian concerns in this regard and he would see what he could do," the foreign secretary said.

Asked if the issue of Khalistani elements in the UK was raised during the talks, Shringla said the issue of Khalistani anti-India activists who take advantage of freedoms that are offered by democracies such as ours was raised quite clearly and prime minister Johnson took careful note of that.

"He (Johnson) said he was very sensitive to our concerns in this regard and he would have a close look at that. As far as he was concerned, there was zero tolerance for such people who can create issues that can impact the relationship between the two countries," Shringla said.

At the presser, the British PM said, "We don't tolerate extremist groups operating in the UK and targeting other countries" when asked about Khalistani elements in the UK.

India reiterated its support for a peaceful, stable and secure Afghanistan having an inclusive and representative government, Modi said and added "it is essential that Afghan territory must not be used to spread terrorism in other countries."

The joint statement said the two leaders 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.

It said Modi and Johnson reiterated their condemnation of terrorist attacks in India and the UK, including the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks.

Johnson also said India was the UK's biggest partner in the Indo-Pacific, which is increasingly the geopolitical centre of the world, with two-thirds of humanity, and a third of the global economy and that share is rising every year.

The two sides inked two government-to-government MoUs, including one on cooperation on the global centre for nuclear energy partnership between India's department of atomic energy and the department of business, energy and industrial strategy of the UK.

Four non-governmental MoUs were also inked.

The two prime ministers acknowledged that current global energy price volatility underscored the importance of domestic and international energy security and the clean energy transition.

"They welcomed progress on offshore wind energy, and electric mobility since the signing of the zero-emission vehicles declaration. They agreed to strengthen collaboration, including through the joint declaration of intent between India's National Institute of Wind Energy and the UK's Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult," the joint statement said.

"They also noted a $200 million guarantee by GuarantCo for Axis Bank, to accelerate India's transition to electric vehicles. They appreciated the ongoing cooperation on the development and deployment of affordable green hydrogen for both countries, including through the India-UK Science and Innovation Partnership on Green Hydrogen and joint work on a Green Hydrogen Hub," it said.

In his comments, Johnson also described the talks as wonderful and said the partnership between the UK and India is one of the "defining friendships of our time".

"Today, we are announcing new measures to make it easier to export UK-made medical devices to India and ensure mutual recognition of UK higher education qualification," he said.

Johnson, who is on a two-day India trip, visited Gujarat on Thursday before arriving in New Delhi late last evening.