United Kingdom is planning to deploy royal navy warships in Indian Ocean region (IOR) later this year amid China’s aggressive activities.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps discussed overall security situation in Indo-Pacific in backdrop of China’s aggressive behaviour. They also focused on the security and other strategic issues in Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The two leaders also explored ways to strengthen the defence ties between New Delhi and London to deal with the challenges being posed by Beijing in the region, The Daily Guardian learnt from diplomatic sources aware of the matter.
“UK wants to ramp up ties with India in defence and security sectors so as to tackle challenges by the expansionist forces in both the Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region,” sources said.
The UK government on Wednesday unveiled plans to deploy Royal Navy warships in IOR later this year to operate and train with Indian forces, signalling what it described as the growing importance of the strategic relationship between the two countries. “The U.K. Navy will send its Littoral Response Group to the Indian Ocean region later this year, with plans for its Carrier Strike Group to visit India in 2025. Both will operate and train with Indian forces,” U.K. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced.
This is being viewed as a decisive step in bolstering bilateral security ties. The conflicts between Russia-Ukraine and Hamas-Israel also featured prominently during the talks between Rajnath and Shapps. The two ministers also discussed global challenges resulting from such conflicts, sources added.
During Rajnath Singh’s three-day visit to the UK (January 8-10), India and UK have decided to consolidate their strategic ties further to deal with all security challenges in Indo-Pacific, IOR and other regions. According to a diplomat, there was a sharper focus on the crucial Indo-Pacific region during the meeting between Rajnath Singh and his British counterpart.
“With the growing Chinese assertive and aggressive activities in the Indo-Pacific and other regions and geographies, India and UK are keen to enhance strategic and defence cooperation further so as to deal with any security issue,” he added