Rajnath Singh Talks With British Counterpart Wallace, Focuses On Defence Ties Expansion

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh talked on a phone call with his British counterpart Ben Wallace on Tuesday to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral defence industrial cooperation, particularly in the co-development and co-production of military hardware in India.

In reference to industrial cooperation, Singh said that potential areas of cooperation had been identified, but he did not elaborate.

The defence minister described the talk as “cordial” and “positive” and stated that it aimed to expand the future bilateral defence relationship.

“It was a pleasure to speak with Ben Wallace, the UK Secretary of State for Defence. The conversation was friendly, upbeat, and focused on the future development of the bilateral defence relationship,” Singh tweeted.

“We reviewed ongoing defence cooperation and expressed satisfaction with bilateral military engagements. In our conversation, we covered a wide range of defence and security issues, including regional developments and the Indo-Pacific,” Singh said.

According to the defence minister, the discussions focused on ways to improve defence-industrial cooperation and potential areas for it was identified.

“We also talked about ways to improve defence-industrial cooperation and identified potential areas of collaboration. It was also suggested that UK companies join the India Growth Story and participate in co-development and co-production in India,” he added.

The defence ministry said that both ministers discussed a wide range of defence and security issues, including regional developments and the Indo-Pacific.

“The ministers reviewed their ongoing defence cooperation briefly and expressed satisfaction with their bilateral military-to-military engagements,” the statement said.