India-UK Summit talks were held in New Delhi on 19 February 2013 during the official visit to India of the British Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron, MP. The Indian side was led by Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh. The security issues denoting convergence in the Joint Statement have been flagged as follows -
Strong cooperation in the field of counter terrorism, to prevent terror attacks, strengthen the international counter terrorism architecture, and exchange best practice in areas such as transport security, security of vital civil infrastructure installations, responding to terror attacks, countering extremism and joint training of counter-terrorism forces.
Deepen their cooperation on cyber security, building on the comprehensive bilateral cyber dialogue held in October, 2012, and the subsequent Joint Statement on Cooperation between India and the UK on Cyber Issues. A second round of dialogue is proposed at mutually convenient dates in March/April 2013. A detailed programme for the sharing of expertise on cyber security including; police training exchanges in cyber forensics; a joint workshop on cyber security research, and a cyber trade and skills event to be held in the first half of 2013 and a joint task force to exchange and share information to address malicious cyber activity originating in and affecting each other's cyber space.
Active cooperation to achieve India’s ambitions to join the major export control regimes (Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Group; Australia Group; Wassenaar Arrangement).
The leaders noted that, under a letter of agreement signed in September 2011, Indian and British scientists are working together to develop technologies for Defence and Security. Taking forward this engagement, the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is paired with the India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Three Collaborative Projects were initiated in 2012 and a new project has just been agreed to work together on Chemical and Biological Defence.
The two leaders welcomed the international community’s continued commitment to Afghanistan in the form of development and security assistance during this period of transition and transformation. The two leaders recognised that the main threat to Afghanistan’s security and stability is terrorism which also endangers regional and global peace and security. The two leaders supported the efforts made by Afghanistan to establish a peaceful inter-Afghan dialogue. Most significantly the two leaders agreed to establish a new Joint Working Group as a mechanism for a regular bilateral dialogue on peace, security and development in Afghanistan. Hopefully this will overcome some of the apprehensions on the Indian side that Britain was leaning on Pakistan to have a major role post 2014.
India and the UK have extensive cooperation in a number of fields that is essentially building up on close links that continue to exist between the two countries drawn from the colonial past. There is growing cooperation in the security field in particular with engagement in the counter terrorism capacity building and cyber security. In the defence field however India is having comparatively weaker relations with the UK as compared with other countries in Europe such as France and Russia. The balance that the UK is maintaining with Pakistan is one factor wherein there is a sentiment in India that London is acting in the interest of Islamabad. The Agusta Westland helicopters which are manufactured in the UK is also likely to remain a sore point in the defence relations even though it is Italian middle men who are alleged to have been involved in corruption.
This Article first appeared on Security Risks and is reposted here under a Creative Commons license.