NEW DELHI: In a potential boost for India-United Kingdom bilateral relations, Rajnath Singh will on Monday become the first Indian defence minister to visit the UK in 22 years. He is leading a high level delegation to the United Kingdom with plans to discuss defence, security and industrial cooperation issues. George Fernandes was the last one to visit London in January 2002.
The Ministry of Defence on Sunday said the Defence Minister will leave on a two-day visit to London, United Kingdom (UK) on Monday.
"He will be accompanied by a high-level Ministry of Defence delegation, comprising senior officials from DRDO, Service Headquarters, Department of Defence, and Department of Defence Production. "
During his visit, the defence minister will hold a bilateral meeting with his UK counterpart Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps.
"They are expected to discuss a wide range of defence, security and industrial cooperation issues." said the MoD.
He will "also interact with the CEOs and industry leaders of UK Defence Industry and meet with the Indian community there."
Singh is also expected to call on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and hold a meeting with Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs Mr David Cameron.
India and the UK are taking steps to boost their ties. The two have also been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2022.
It was in May 2021 that the then British Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson and PM adopted an ambitious 'Roadmap 2030' to elevate bilateral ties to a 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership'.
The Roadmap, besides boosting defence and security ties, will also pave the way for a deeper and stronger engagement in people-to-people contacts, trade and economy, climate action and health.
In an important move, the inaugural India-UK 2+2 Foreign and Defence Dialogue was held in New Delhi in October 2023.
The Indian delegation was co-chaired by Piyush Srivastava, Joint Secretary Europe West, Ministry of External Affairs, and Vishwesh Negi, Joint Secretary, International Cooperation, Ministry of Defence.
The UK delegation was co-chaired by Ben Mellor, India Director, Indian Ocean Directorate, FCDO, and Lt. General Rob Magowan, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, Finance and Military Capability, Ministry of Defence.
The 2+2 dialogue at Senior Official level is a mechanism to discuss and review all aspects of India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The second meeting of the Dialogue is expected to be held in the UK this year.