India, UK to focus on economy, security in Indo-Pacific region

NEW DELHI: Economy and security are set to be the two main pillars for cooperation between India and the UK in the Indo-Pacific against the backdrop of concerted efforts by the global community to counter China’s assertiveness across the region, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

With virtually no country capable of matching China’s deep pockets in terms of cheap financing for its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), India and the UK can come together to offer alternative sources of transparent financing for infrastructure projects and to roll out new technologies such as 5G, the people added.

In the realm of maritime security, the UK plans to have a persistent presence in the western Indian Ocean by deploying two offshore patrol vessels in the region from 2022 and a littoral defence group, based around amphibious vessels, from 2023, the people said.

These deployments will be centred round the British naval base at Duqm in Oman. The UK also has a military presence at four more locations in and around the Indian Ocean – Kenya, Diego Garcia, Brunei, and Singapore.

There are also plans for more complex naval exercises and joint training to build interoperability between the navies of the two countries. In June, the UK posted a liaison officer at the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region in Gurugram, a facility that tracks shipping in the region and monitors security threats.

In keeping with an “Indo-Pacific tilt” in its integrated defence and foreign policy review published earlier this year, the UK is looking to work with trusted partners such as India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to secure its presence in the region and to put in place security arrangements that ensure sea trade routes remain free and open.

The people cited above said such maritime security arrangements are essential in view of potential flashpoints in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.

These arrangements will also build on work done together by India and the UK in regions such as the western Indian Ocean, where the two countries have collaborated in countering piracy.

The Aukus alliance forged by the US, the UK and Australia reflects the commitment of these three countries to ensure that the seas remain open and secure by providing Australia nuclearpowered submarines.

Despite the negative fallout from Aukus because of Australia’s cancellation of a lucrative contract with France for conventional submarines, the people noted that there was a deep level of trust between the UK and France, which is reflected in their security, intelligence, and counterterrorism cooperation.

The people said the Indo-Pacific has become the focus of interest for the international community because of the dynamic growth of trade in the region. At the same time, the region has become more contested and there is a need to secure and keep open maritime trade routes, they added.

Even as countries in the region work to make supply chains more diverse and resilient, India and the UK can also work together to exploit opportunities for rolling out trusted technologies in areas such as 5G, the people said.