India, UK plan new initiatives in civil nuclear energy, defence coproduction; free trade deal expected by October-end

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, April 22

India and the UK agreed to take their post-Brexit relationship to new heights, especially in the areas of trade, defence co-production, civil nuclear energy, financing climate change and improving mobility, during delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting UK counterpart Boris Johnson.

The two leaders agreed to finalise agreements and oversaw the inking of MoUs that would give a fillip to intensification of India UK ties.

A joint statement issued after the Modi-Johnson talks had no condemnation of Russia, with the latter observing that he understood that India is not going to dilute its historically strong ties with Moscow. “But they can see what is going on and there is an increasing appetite to do more with the UK,’’ he added at a press conference.

In a move that will help both sides conclusively tackle the issue of aggressive Khalistani posturing in the UK that has included the targeting of the Indian High Commission in London, India and the UK decided to set up a sub-group on countering extremism.

A Free Trade Agreement with India could double our trade and investment by the end of the decade.

As the third round of talks begin next week, @NarendraModi and I are telling our negotiators: get it done by Diwali.

🇬🇧🇮🇳 https://t.co/np4UJsEq61

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 22, 2022

This group will seek to achieve consensus on taking action against groups and individuals based in UK and India who are seeking to incite violent extremism and terrorism and who are involved in financing such activities. They will set up a mechanism for exchanging information on Criminal Records, preferably before March 2023.

PMs Modi and Johnson agreed to conclude the majority of talks on a comprehensive and balanced Free Trade Agreement by the end of October 2022 before which they would achieve resolution of all pending market access issues in a balanced manner.

They also agreed upon the early conclusion of negotiations of a fresh India-UK Nuclear Cooperation Agreement to promote joint nuclear energy studies, radioactive applications, nuclear security and safety.

In defence and security, the two Prime Ministers agreed to deepen co-operation by quickly resolving legacy issues and finalise Logistics and Training MoUs to build trust and set the stage for the Defence Ministerial Dialogue as well as begin joint work in maritime electric propulsion systems, modern fighter aircraft and jet engine advanced core technology.

In the area of critical technologies, a Joint India-UK Cyber Statement promised to deepen cooperation across cyber governance, deterrence and strengthen cyber resilience. They also called for increased engagements on critical and emerging domains of defence including space, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber.

Besides agreeing to expand cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, the two sides agreed upon quick finalisation of a Maritime Information Exchange Arrangement on dark and grey shipping.

Encouraged by the success of $ 425 million India-UK Green Growth Equity Fund, the UK said it will guarantee $ 1 billion World Bank lending to India’s development of green infrastructure.

India and the UK also 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 on vaccine development under the framework of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) initiative.

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