The Chief of Defence Staff of the UK, Admiral Tony Radakin, has said Britain and New Delhi share the same values of territorial integrity and sovereignty, and that his country views China as a “systemic competitor”. He also said the UK is keen on collaborating more closely with India under the Indo-Pacific strategic framework.
Addressing a select group of journalists Wednesday before leaving for the UK, Admiral Radakin said the UK is keen on collaborating with India by way of sharing of sensitive technology on jet engines as well as maritime electric propulsion to bolster India’s maritime domain awareness.
“China is a systemic competitor and we have to acknowledge that. But within that, there are obvious opportunities and a relationship with China where we collaborate whether that’s around trade, whether that’s around trying to fight climate change, we know that we need to do that together,” Admiral Radakin said in a response to a question by ABP Live on the Chinese belligerence in the Indo-Pacific.
“But we are also trying to be clear in terms of the UK and our own values and interests and where we are going to be clear about those and acknowledge that sometimes that means there is a difference of views,” he said.
CDS Radakin added: “So I think the clarity of the UK position hopefully is helpful with the clarity of an Indian position, which is that these are two important powers, substantial economies, really significant democracies that really value territorial integrity, the sovereignty of nations. And when we have those shared values and interests we should be clear in articulating those to the world.”
In March 2023, the UK refreshed its Integrated Review thereby significantly increasing its defence funding to tackle global challenges. In that, the UK has stated that China “poses an epoch-defining challenge to the type of international order we want to see, both in terms of security and values – and so our approach must evolve”.
The document, which lays down the roadmap of the UK’s defence and foreign policies, also states that it will work with Beijing on issues concerning trade and climate change, but “where there are attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to coerce or create dependencies, we will work closely with others to push back against them”.
CDS Radakin also said the UK plans to cooperate closely with India as it begins to increase its presence in the Indian Ocean with a permanent deployment of ‘Amphibious Response Groups’ under the Indo-Pacific framework.
“We talked about a tilt in the Indo-Pacific in 2021, we’re now using the language of maintaining that tilt to the Indo-Pacific that is real and substantial,” he said.
Admiral Radakin, who was visiting India for the second time as the UK’s CDS, met his Indian counterpart Gen. Anil Chauhan during the visit, apart from the Army Chief Gen. Manoj Pande and Navy Chief Admiral Hari Kumar.
UK Keen On Being Partner In 'Make In India' For Defence Industry
According to the British CDS, the UK is keen on leveraging its strategic relationship with India, and is willing to share its jet-engine technology as well as maritime propulsion systems thereby being a key partner in the ‘Make in India’ drive of the Indian defence industry.
India and the UK have signed a Logistics Memorandum of Understanding in an effort to work more closely together, especially in the maritime domain.
As part of the UK’s ‘2030 Roadmap’ India and the UK have agreed to work closely together in support of India’s indigenous development of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark 2.
Admiral Radakin said there are “lots of ways” in which the UK can contribute towards India’s drive for ‘Make in India’ in the defence sector.
“The sharing of maritime electric propulsion. We’ve been on that journey for 20 years so can we help India to accelerate that… India does not have to go through a 20-year journey. We can expedite that for India and bring it where we are now,” he said.
Last month, the inaugural UK-India Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership meeting was held in Portsmouth, seeking to enable India to develop new maritime propulsion technologies for its navy, by establishing an industrial ecosystem in India.
“We are also talking about something incredibly exciting where the prospect of having Indian engines in Indian jets assisted by UK technology which is at the very leading edge of the world in terms of jet engines,” he highlighted.
Intense UK-India Defence Engagements
The defence partnership between the UK and India has intensified in an unprecedented manner since 2021.
This year alone, the Royal Navy has conducted five port visits to India, swapping 500 sailors in and out of the country. Ships from both nations participated in Exercise Konkan.
Next week, an Indian Army contingent will be travelling to the UK to participate in Exercise Ajeya Warrior.
UK’s Chief of Air Staff Marshal Mike Wigston is also currently in India. He met his Indian counterpart Vivek Chaudhari Tuesday.
Both the Air Chiefs discussed “opportunities for future cooperation between the RAF and IAF, building on the rich shared history of our two air forces”, Wigston said in a tweet.
The Indian Air Force participated in exercise Cobra Warrior in March, which happened for the first time.
In 2022, the Royal Air Force conducted a Subject Matter Expertise Exchange with DRDO during the visit of Eurofighter Typhoon, Voyager and A400 while stopping over in New Delhi. The RAF also conducted a joint flying exercise with the IAF to hone interoperability during its stopover.
The visit of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group in October 2021 — led by HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of the two largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy — opened up a new phase of defence partnership between both countries.
Earlier this month, HMS Tamar concluded its patrol in the Indian Ocean where it made multiple port calls in India at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chennai and Visakhapatnam.
In February, the UK had also sent its delegation to Aero India, led by Minister for Defence Procurement Alex Chalk, to engage with various stakeholders during the event.