The UK and India have agreed on a “new and expanded” defense and security partnership during British premier Boris Johnson’s visit to New Delhi amid efforts to keep India away from Russia.
Johnson, who is on his maiden visit to New Delhi, held talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Friday on ways to boost security ties between the two countries.
The visit comes as the British premier is facing heat from his own Conservative lawmakers and the embarrassing prospect of a probe into whether he lied to parliament over the “Partygate” scandal.
Johnson’s first visit to New Delhi also comes amid simmering conflict in Ukraine, where India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seen on Vladimir Putin’s side.
India also has a long history of cooperation with Moscow, which continues to be its biggest military supplier, and has refused to condemn Russia for its military operation in Ukraine.
On the other hand, it is also part of the Quad grouping with the United States, Japan, and Australia that is seen as a counterweight to China’s staggering rise.
“The threats of autocratic coercion have grown even further,” Johnson said alongside his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. “And it’s therefore vital that we deepen our cooperation including our shared interest in keeping the Indo-Pacific open and free.”
The new partnership was “a decades-long commitment”, he further said, hailing the relationship between “one of the oldest democracies, and India, certainly the largest democracy”.
Johnson is hoping that his security offers to India could cut and help cut the country’s military reliance on Russia and drive it away from the Kremlin.
“We have agreed on a new and expanded defense and security partnership, a decades-long commitment that will not only forge tighter bonds between us but support your goal of Make in India,” Johnson said on Friday, referring to Modi’s domestic manufacturing push.
“And it’s therefore vital that we deepen our cooperation including our shared interest in keeping the Indo-Pacific open and free,” he added.
He said negotiators from the two countries were expected to complete a free-trade deal by the end of this year.
“We’re telling our negotiators to get it done by Diwali in October. This could double our trade and investments by the end of the decade,” he said.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
