OGELs to open UK defence trade to India
As anticipated by WorldECR reporting in April, the UK government has published two open general export licences (‘OGELs’) to ‘permit the simplified export of a range of dual-use and military equipment to India.’
Under the licences, and subject to certain provisions and exclusions, any items specified in the schedules of the OGELs ‘may be exported from the United Kingdom, by any person established in the United Kingdom, to any destination in India.’
In late April, WorldECR reported that following a visit to India by prime minister Boris Johnson, where he met his counterpart Narendra Modi, India’s foreign ministry had announced, ‘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].’
