WORLD

Modi, Starmer strengthen bilateral ties, ink defence deals worth over $800 million

India and the UK have signed two defence deals worth over $800 million and have also agreed to collaborate further in education, clean energy, artificial intelligence (AI) and critical minerals.
Britain has said that it has signed a $468-million contract to supply the Indian army with UK-manufactured lightweight missiles as a part of a deepening weapons and defence partnership between the two countries.
The two countries have also inked another deal in the defence industry, entailing joint design and development of electric-powered engines worth $335 million for naval ships.
In its statement on the defence deal, the British government has added that the new contract for lightweight multirole missiles made by Thales in Northern Ireland will secure 700 jobs at a factory which currently makes the same weapons for Ukraine.
“The deal paves the way for a broader complex weapons partnership between the UK and India, currently under negotiation between the two governments,” it has adedd.
The announcements follow British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to India and his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai. The two have hailed the potential of commercial links from their months-old trade deal.
In another deal, Graphcore, the British chip designer owned by SoftBank Group Corp, has said in a blog post that it will invest $1.3 billion to build infrastructure in India over the next decade, including a new research hub. Graphcore, which is based in Bristol, plans to open the research facility in Bengaluru that will create 500 jobs, the company has added.
India and Britain are also partnering in the higher education sector. Accordingly, Mr Starmer has announced setting up campuses of nine universities from the UK – including University of Liverpool, University of York, University of Aberdeen and University of Bristol in India. The campus of University of Southampton is already operational.

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