UK sending Littoral Response Group to Indian Ocean this year, joint work on complex weapons continues

The move is significant amidst heightened tensions in the Asia Pacific, particularly North Korea's weapons program and China's assertive stance on Taiwan and the South China Sea. The collaboration extends to various aspects, including electric propulsion systems, and complex weapons development.

Anish Kumar

First Published Jan 11, 2024, 8:25 AM IST | Last Updated Jan 11, 2024, 8:25 AM IST

Aiming to bolster further the defence ties between the two countries, the United Kingdom will be sending its high-readiness Littoral Response Group to the Indian Ocean region in 2024 and the Carrier Strike Group in 2025 for joint training with the Indian Navy. During the same time, its littoral response group and Carrier Strike Group will exercise with the Japanese naval forces. This assumes significance amid heightened tensions in the Asia Pacific over North Korea’s advancing weapons programme and China’s increasingly aggressive posturing on issues like Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea, which it claims almost in its entirety.

The announcement was made by the UK’s Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps during the first visit of his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh to his country, in over 20 years. During Rajnath's stay, the two countries vowed to continue strengthening ties and discussed future cooperation in defence from joint exercises to knowledge sharing and instructor exchanges.

"These steps build on the comprehensive strategic partnership envisaged in the 2030 India-UK roadmap, announced in 2021," Indian High Commission in Delhi said.

"In the coming years, the UK and India will also embark on more complex exercises between their respective militaries, building up to a landmark joint exercise to be conducted before the end of 2030, supporting shared goals of protecting critical trade routes and upholding the international rules-based system," it said.

UK Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps said: "There is absolutely no question that the world is becoming increasingly contested, so it’s vital that we continue to build on our strategic relationships with key partners like India."

He further said: "Together we share the same security challenges and are steadfast in our commitment to maintaining a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific. It is clear that this relationship is going from strength to strength, but we must continue to work hand-in-hand to uphold global security in light of threats and challenges that seek to destabilise and damage us."

Rajnath Singh, who was on a two-day visit to the country, also interacted with defence companies tycoons, wherein the industry leaders from the UK outlined their current and future plans for India. Aero-engines, Electric Propulsion, missiles, power packs, and maritime systems were identified as some of the focus areas of joint work.

Talking about the collaboration with industry, the UK Secretary said: "It is also key in the strategic defence partnership between the two countries as “we are working together on electric propulsion systems that will power our future fleets, and cooperating on the development of complex weapons."

The two sides also inked two agreements, including a Memorandum of Understanding on the conduct of a bilateral international cadet exchange programme, and a Letter of Arrangement between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) on defence collaboration in research and development.

The UK side also said that the two countries have solidified an agreement on logistics exchange, allowing for the provision of logistic support, supplies and services between the United Kingdom and Indian Armed Forces, for joint training, joint exercises, authorised port visits and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.

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