India, UK keen on partnership

A decision to this effect was taken after the UK Minister for Universities and Science, David Willets, visited India last November and the terms are being worked out.

Noting that the partnership would be to jointly develop critical technologies in about 12 areas of mutual interest, UKTI Senior Press Officer, Adam Thomas, said: “We may either co-develop all of them or develop them separately and use them mutually.”

Addressing mediapersons ahead of Aero India 2011, the UK delegation said that the British Government had no choice but to establish more partnerships across the globe in order to sustain its position as the number two exporter of defence products and technologies.

India, they said, falls in the scheme of things quite naturally, given the kind of relationship the two countries have shared in the past. The focus will be on establishing three kinds of partnerships: (1) At the industry level where UK firms are looking for long-term relationships with their Indian counterparts, (2) On air power, where both the Royal Air Force and the Indian Air Force will work in tandem towards tackling challenges and (3) In terms of science and technology, an example of which is the DRDO-STFC partnership.