India, UK reboot ties: Focus on enhancing defence and anti-terror cooperation
In the first meeting between their leaders after Britain’s planned exit from the European Union, India and the United Kingdom unveiled a decadal vision to reboot their multi-faceted relationship, with Britain offering its support for the Make in India project of joint defence manufacturing and encouraging the rise of India as a major global player.
The two countries also decided to scale up their counter-terror cooperation, with Britain supporting India’s stand on collective global action against states that sponsor terrorism and provide sanctuaries to terrorists.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and her British counterpart Theresa May held wide-ranging talks at the stately Hyderabad House in New Delhi on November 7, their first full-spectrum meeting since May became the prime minister of the UK in July. The outcomes that emanated from the talks indicated a deepening of economic and strategic partnership between the two countries, which was crystallised in the joint statement entitled “India-UK Strategic Partnership looking forward to a renewed engagement: Vision for the decade ahead.”
The broad narrative that emerged from the talks between PM Modi and Theresa May was the political resolve of the two sides to reinvigorate this crucial bilateral relationship, with Britain supporting India’s greater international role, and its global aspirations for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.