India UK Relations
The ties between India and the UK are built on these five pillars:
- Trade and economy
- Connecting people to people ties
- Health
- Defensive
- Mutual Safety
India and UK’s trade and economic ties:
- The second-largest investor in the UK is from India. The UK is India’s third-largest investor even though it is the country’s 18th-largest commercial partner.
- The Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), which seeks to encourage cross-border investment, was established in New Delhi in 2005.
India’s top exports to the UK are:
- ready-made garments and textiles, gemstones and jewellery, engineering products, petroleum and petrochemical products, transportation equipment and parts, spices, manufacturers of metals, machines, and instruments, as well as manufactured goods, pharmaceuticals, and maritime products.
The top British exports to India are as follows:
- Stones, both precious and semi-precious, ores, scrap metal, engineering items, non-electronic professional instruments, non-ferrous metals, chemicals, and equipment.
- In the services sector, the UK is India’s largest market in Europe for IT services.
- The top sectors attracting FDI from the UK are petroleum, ports, services, roads & highways, and computer software.
- The economy and business environment in the UK are significantly impacted by the growth of Indian multinational businesses.
- The bilateral trade in goods and services between India and the UK has increased over the last ten years.
- As per the Road Map, a free trade agreement was signed in 2021.
- The UK will promote nursing possibilities, recognise the qualifications of Indian seafarers, and open up the fisheries industry to additional Indian players. It will also engage in a cooperative dialogue over the Social Security Agreements section of this plan.
- India has complied with the UK’s requests for fruits, medical supplies, and the mutual recognition of master’s degrees in exchange for the UK’s agreement to work toward the opening of reciprocal legal services.
British and Indian cultural affinities:
- India and the UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cultural Cooperation in July 2010. The Nehru Centre (TNC), established in London in 1992, is the High Commission of India’s cultural outreach initiative in the UK.
India and the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Cooperation:
- Both nations signed the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Declaration in 2010 to expand and streamline cooperation in the nuclear sector, including nuclear trade and between the two nations’ scientific institutions.
- A nuclear partnership agreement was signed by the prime leaders of the UK and India in 2015 as part of a comprehensive package of cooperation on energy and climate change, including joint research projects and measures to share technical, scientific, financial, and policy capabilities.
Educational Connections:
- India is the second-largest source of foreign students in the UK with over 38,000 pupils. In 2005, the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) was launched with a focus on research, higher education, professional and technical skills, and schools.
- 2016 has been designated as the UK-India Year of Education, Research, and Innovation.
India and the UK are collaborating in the defence sector in the following manner:
- At every level of the three services, there are frequent joint exercises and substantial interaction between them.
- The two prime leaders, Modi and Johnson, have made the decision to advance the collaboration and laid out a common outlook for the UK-India defence alliance.
- India and the UK also agreed to new agreements on marine information sharing and an ambitious exercise plan that includes joint trilateral drills, in addition to requesting the UK to join India’s Information Fusion Centre in Gurgaon.
Collaboration in Health Sector:
- As a Global Force for Good in health, the UK and India will collaborate to address the most pressing issues in global health, save lives, and improve health and wellbeing.
- The India-United Kingdom Health Partnership aims to promote the security of global health and pandemic resilience through increased collaboration on clinical education, health worker mobility, and digital health. Along with that, it seeks to advance healthy societies and take the lead in the struggle against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Moving ahead/Way Forward:
- The 2030 vision is a step in the right direction toward restoring trade, investment, and technological collaboration to improve citizens’ lives and livelihoods, strengthening defence and security cooperation, and positioning India-UK as a worldwide leader in the fight against climate change.
- The top two economies in the world, India and the UK are both thriving democracies with exceptional accomplishments in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, innovation, research, education, space, defence, green technology, and clean energy. To capitalise on this relationship for the benefit of the disciplines, more collaborations ought to be tried.
- The collectively held historical baggage must also be handled in order to reduce the chance of roadblocks in upcoming cooperation.
