india

Updated: Apr 17, 2019 14:02 IST

India and the United Kingdom this week signed a memorandum of understanding on defence and security equipment described as a ‘step change’ in the long-standing defence relationship between the two countries.

The agreement follows a visit by India’s chief of naval staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, to HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth in March, and HMS Dragon’s visit to Goa in December last year, where the ship took part in the naval exercise, the Konkan Series.

The defence equipment MoU was signed by Air Marshal Richard Knighton on behalf of the UK’s ministry of defence and Barun Mitra, additional secretary (defence production) in India’s ministry of defence.

“As major world economies, Britain and India both have a proud global maritime history, with impressive futures ahead,” defence minister Stuart Andrew said.

“The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding underpins the collaboration between our two nations, building on our defence ties, and ensuring our nations are able to combat emerging threats for generations to come,” Andrew said.

By collaborating and exploiting procurement opportunities together, both nations will be able to benefit from technological and manufacturing capabilities and support long-term cooperation between their defence and security industries, an official statement said.

Besides the bilateral defence talks, representatives of the UK and Indian industry met to discuss how they would forge deeper and broader partnerships to contribute to these efforts.