Modi welcomes OGEL during Johnson’s India visit

In the spirit of anticipated greater collaboration between the UK and India, the UK government is to issue an Open General Export Licence (‘OGEL’) for exports to India, which it says, will ‘reduce bureaucracy and shorten delivery times for defence procurement.’ The UK Department of Trade says that this is the UK’s ‘first OGEL in the Indo-Pacific region’.

The announcement was made on 22 April in anticipation of a visit by prime minister Boris Johnson to the country, where he met his counterpart, Narendra Modi, who, according to a transcript issued by the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, welcomed the announcement of the OGEL, and also that of ‘the open opportunity for Indian defence companies to participate in UK’s new helicopter and naval shipbuilding programme.’

The ministry said that ‘Both sides had agreed on intensifying cooperation in encountering threats in new domains like cyber, cybersecurity, space, artificial intelligence, as well as on strengthening cooperation on counterterrorism and in addressing violent extremism and radicalism.’

In Q&A with press, foreign secretary Shri Harsh Vardan Shringla said that areas of defence cooperation with the UK that had been discussed included ‘electric propulsion systems that can be used by naval ships, also, some work on jet propulsion systems, the aviation sector, underwater sea domain, etc.,’ adding that ‘the focus is on co-development and co-production, in keeping with our initiative of “Make in India” and our policy of “Aatmnirbhar Bharat” [Indian self-reliance].’

No pressure re Ukraine

Asked whether Boris Johnson had urged the Indian government to participate in international sanctions against Russia, in view of its invasion of Ukraine, Shringla said,

‘Prime Minister Boris Johnson…explained his thoughts on the issue…Prime Minister Modi, as I said, explained our thoughts on this issue from our perspective. Prime Minister Modi said that we are on the side of peace. And we want that there should be dialogue and diplomacy. The war between Russia and Ukraine should stop immediately, and we want this conflict to be resolved as soon as possible. So our position was quite clear and there was no pressure in it.’

See the forthcoming issue of WorldECR (Issue 109) for reporting on the stance taken by India and other countries, vis a vis the Ukraine invasion.