India, U.K. review bilateral defence ties at DCG meeting

Why in the News

India and the United Kingdom reviewed bilateral defence cooperation at the 25th India United Kingdom Defence Consultative Group (DCG) meeting in New Delhi on 21 August 2026. The Defence Secretary and the United Kingdom’s Permanent Under Secretary for Defence co chaired the meeting. Defence industry and research and development were the declared focus of the review. The two sides also acknowledged their maritime security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and reaffirmed a commitment to mutual security and strategic autonomy. The meeting places the industrial and research pillar, rather than platform purchases, at the centre of a partnership that has historically been defined by equipment supply.

What is the India United Kingdom Defence Consultative Group?

1. The institutional channel for the defence relationship: The DCG is the standing bilateral mechanism at which the two defence establishments review the whole of their cooperation.
2. Who leads it: It is co chaired at the level of the Defence Secretary on the Indian side and the Permanent Under Secretary for Defence on the British side.
3. How long it has run: The New Delhi round was the 25th meeting of the group, which makes it one of the longer running bilateral defence dialogues India maintains.

What is the India United Kingdom Vision 2035?

1. The current roadmap for the partnership: Vision 2035 is the agreed framework that sets out where the two countries intend to take defence, technology, trade and security cooperation over the coming decade.
2. The defence component: It is paired with a 10 year Defence Industrial Road map, which is the instrument the two sides use to sequence joint industrial and research work.

What is the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative?

1. India’s cooperative framework for the maritime region: The initiative is an India led arrangement announced in 2019. Partner countries take the lead on specific pillars such as maritime security, resources and capacity building.
2. How partners participate: A country joins by leading or co leading a pillar rather than by signing a treaty, which is how the United Kingdom is engaged in it.

What did the two sides review on defence industrial cooperation?

1. Industry and research were the declared focus: The review of bilateral defence cooperation was framed around defence industry and research and development rather than around procurement.
2. Where that work is anchored: Ongoing defence industrial cooperation was reviewed with particular emphasis on research and development under the India United Kingdom Vision 2035 and the 10 year Defence Industrial Road map.

How will military to military exchanges expand?

1. Three named channels of expansion: The two countries agreed to expand exchanges between their armed forces through joint exercises, training and capacity building initiatives.
2. Why the format matters: Exercises and training create the interoperability that industrial cooperation alone cannot produce.
3. The visit itself: The meeting marked the first visit to India by the British official in his current capacity. He laid a wreath at the National War Memorial during the visit.

What does the maritime security agenda add?

1. Cooperation acknowledged in the Indo-Pacific: Both sides recorded robust maritime security cooperation between the two countries in the Indo-Pacific.
2. A new institution named: That cooperation includes the establishment of the Regional Maritime Security Centre of Excellence under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.

What framing did the two sides put on the partnership?

1. Regional security was discussed directly: The two sides exchanged views on regional peace and security.
2. Two commitments reaffirmed: They reaffirmed their commitment to mutual security and to strategic autonomy, which retains each side’s freedom of independent decision.
3. The declared basis of the relationship: They reiterated that the India United Kingdom Strategic Partnership is anchored in shared values of peace, stability, freedom and mutual respect.

Challenges to the India United Kingdom Strategic Partnership

1. Divergent positions on Russia: London has openly criticised the invasion of Ukraine, and New Delhi maintains its own relationship with Moscow. Eg. India’s continued crude imports from Russia have drawn repeated criticism in British parliamentary debate. Fix. Ring fence the disagreement in the political dialogue and keep the defence industrial track on its own timeline.
2. Extremist activity abroad affecting bilateral trust: Separatist mobilisation on British soil is treated by India as a security matter and by Britain as a policing and speech matter. Eg. The Five Eyes investigation into the Nijjar killing, which includes the United Kingdom, strained the relationship. Fix. Create a standing bilateral mechanism to review threats to diplomatic premises and personnel with agreed timelines for response.
3. Unsettled extradition of economic offenders: Cases pending for years in British courts weaken confidence in legal cooperation. Eg. The extradition of high profile fugitives such as Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi remains unresolved. Fix. Agree a case management protocol with fixed review points so that requests do not stall indefinitely.
4. Carbon border levies on Indian exports: The proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism threatens Indian steel and aluminium exports and is read in India as protectionism in an environmental form. Eg. Steel and aluminium are among India’s largest industrial exports to the European market. Fix. Negotiate a mutual recognition arrangement for India’s own carbon credit trading scheme so that a domestic carbon price is counted at the border.
5. Migration and mobility remain unsettled: High visa fees and the health surcharge raise the cost of temporary movement, and no migration and mobility agreement covers the illegal migrant population. Eg. More than one lakh illegal Indian immigrants are estimated to be in the United Kingdom. Fix. Fast track the Double Contribution Convention so that Indian temporary workers are exempted from British National Insurance payments.
6. Intellectual property divergence in pharmaceuticals: British insistence on tighter intellectual property norms conflicts with India’s priority of affordable medicines. Eg. Data exclusivity demands would delay generic entry for medicines India exports at scale. Fix. Keep intellectual property provisions at the standard set by the World Trade Organization agreement and settle the rest through voluntary licensing arrangements.

Conclusion

The defence relationship has moved from an equipment supply relationship to a joint industrial and research relationship, and the 25th DCG meeting recorded that shift rather than announcing a new agreement. The stage reached is a completed secretary level review under an agreed decade long roadmap, with no new procurement decision announced. The next markers are the delivery of projects under the 10 year Defence Industrial Road map and the operation of the Regional Maritime Security Centre of Excellence.