Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Boris Johnson are expected to hold high-level talks on defence, diplomacy and trade, according to the UK Government s release. They will discuss next-generation defence and security collaboration across the five domains of land, sea, air, space and cyber amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The release also includes support for new Indian designed and built fighter jets, offering the best of British know-how on building battle-winning aircraft. The UK will try to support India's requirements for new technology to identify and respond to threats in the Indian Ocean. The UK will issue an Open General Export License OGEL to India in a bid to reduce bureaucracy and shorten delivery times for defence procurement. The release noted that this is the first OGEL issued by the UK in the Indo-Pacific region.
The UK and India are launching a virtual hydrogen science and innovation hub with the aim of providing affordable green hydrogen, which has new funding for the Green Grids Initiative, which was announced at COP 26 and collaboration on the electrification of public transport across India.
Both the governments have committed up to 75 million pounds to roll out adaptable clean tech innovations from India to the Indo-Pacific and Africa. India and the UK will work together on international development and girls' education.
Prime Minister Modi tweeted: Wonderful to see you, my friends PM Boris Johnson in India on a long-awaited visit. He replied to Johnson's tweet.
Johnson tweeted, Looking forward to meeting with my friend Narendra Modi today in New Delhi. The partnership of our democracies is vital as the world faces growing threats from autocratic states, from climate change to energy security to defence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Rashtrapati Bhawan today. The British Prime Minister was welcomed by a guard of honour from the three defence forces at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Johnson said, Thank you for the fantastic welcome you have given us. This is a very auspicious moment in a relationship between two democracies - the world's largest democracy India and the UK one of the world's longest democracies.