Lucknow: India-United Kingdom defence partnership is a geopolitical necessity, British minister of state for defence procurement Alex Chalk said at the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit on Sunday, as chief minister Yogi Adityanath assured UK investors of full cooperation from his government.
Chalk, who was addressing the UK partner country session on the third and final day of the Summit in Lucknow, said the United Kingdom will invest in defence, aerospace and medical sectors in Uttar Pradesh.
“There is growing feeling that the world is becoming more dangerous. People are aware of China’s increasing belligerence and its systematic challenge to the international rules,” Chalk said while addressing the UK partner country session in Lucknow. “We need to accelerate our partnership in defence.”
A sovereign, self-reliant and resilient country like India’s requirement for a sovereign defence industry is not only vital for the region but also for the world, he said.
Chalk expressed commitment to maintaining a partnership with Uttar Pradesh, especially in the defence sector.
“Uttar Pradesh is playing its role on a large scale under the ‘Make in India’ campaign towards meeting India’s defence needs and our contribution in this role will be in many areas, including investment as well as manufacturing of strategic and tactical weaponry,” he said. “With this, Uttar Pradesh will be able to meet the defence needs of India.”
The British minister further said his country is ready to commit to a historic partnership with India with the largest ever transfer of the jet engine technology. “The technology will give thrust to the Make in India capability to ensure that India becomes one of the six countries in the world to own this capability,” he added.
“Uttar Pradesh is full of promises and it is one the fastest growing regions of the country. A state of more than 240 million people has become a centre of research and development. A state that is hungry for its future just as Britain is,” he said. “We are aware of the ambition of CM Yogi Adityanath for Uttar Pradesh — for the growth of the economy, for the development of infrastructure, to establish UP as the engine of new India.”
The UK and Uttar Pradesh will make a comprehensive partnership to become engines of each other’s growth, he said, adding more than 30 British businesses are partnering with their Indian counterparts.
“Today they are signing seven MoUs, committing 165 million pounds with UP that will generate thousands of jobs,” he added.
Addressing the session, chief minister Adityanath said the UK investors will get full cooperation from the state government in carrying their projects forward. Every investment made in the state will not only be safe, but the state government will also provide full help under its policy to make it fruitful for the investors, he added.
“Defence and aerospace are our top priorities among the 25 sectors identified to give a flight to development to the state. We are taking this forward with the government of India on the path of rapid development,” Adityanath was quoted as saying during the session by PTI. “The state government has also issued its policy regarding defence and aerospace and is working to advance the possibilities so that it can emerge as a hub in this sector.”
