Indo-UK relations: UK PM David Cameron tries to cultivate a "special relationship"

Veil off Indo-UK defence courtship


New Delhi, Nov. 29: India is considering a pact assuring the UK that bases of the Indian air force, army and navy will refuel British military aircraft and warships and facilitate the changeover of its troops and war material.

Minister of state for defence M.M. Pallam Raju told a visiting UK delegation last week that �an MoU on Host Nation Support (HNS) was under examination of an inter-ministerial committee�.

This is the first time such a committee or proposal has been disclosed. India does not have such a pact with any country. Its agreement with Russia is the strongest military relationship that is officially endorsed.

But India assists friendly foreign countries in refuelling aircraft and ships on a case-by-case basis.

The proposed agreement with the UK that the government is now studying is broadly in consonance with the �Host Nation Support� schemes that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) enters into with partner countries.

The US, for example, has an HNS agreement with Pakistan for aiding its war in Afghanistan. In 2004, President George W. Bush described Pakistan as a �major non-Nato ally�, adding it to a list that included countries such as Israel, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Nato defines HNS as civil and military assistance from a nation to foreign forces in its territory in peacetime, crises, emergencies or war.

Delhi is considering the HNS pact with the UK even as the cabinet committee on security is wary of signing a comparable logistics support agreement with the US though it has been vetted by the three armed forces headquarters.

The logistics pact with the US was opposed by the Left but even after the second UPA government of Manmohan Singh took over, there has scarcely been any forward movement on it. Defence sources say the pact will allow the Indian and US militaries to settle the costs of military exercises on a barter basis.

Despite the Left being vastly reduced in numbers now, the defence establishment under A.K. Antony is wary of pushing the pact through because it will prompt allegations of a pro-US tilt.

While the UK does not match up to the US as the only superpower in a unipolar world, an HNS agreement between London and New Delhi is bound to invite comparisons and the insinuation that India is at �Her Majesty�s Service�.

�HNS does not mean that the troops-sending nation (in this case the UK) will have access to all our facilities. It means that they will request as and when the situation arises and we will grant help as and when and where we can. Besides, it has to be mutual,� a defence ministry official said.

The definition of �mutual� will necessarily be about agreed airports and ports and the timing for the support in India. Developed countries � most primary Nato members or Nato itself � enter into HNS agreements to cut down the costs of out-of-area military operations.

It is as yet difficult to conceive (since the end of World War II) of India engaged in military operations near the UK for which an HNS agreement can be used by New Delhi to its advantage. But the British have forces near the Indian subcontinent � in Afghanistan � and are keen to cut costs.

The defence delegation from the UK that met Pallam Raju on Friday and was told that the inter-ministerial committee was considering a memorandum of understanding on HNS was led by the minister for defence equipment and support, Quentin Davies.

Pallam Raju also told the delegation that India was ready to sign a �general security arrangement� with the UK.

Cameron wants 'new special relationship' with India

London, May 7,David Cameron, the man most likely to take over as the next Prime Minister of Britain, has promised to forge a "new special relationship" with India and support India's bid for a seat in the UN Security council.

Cameron, who made his first overseas visit as leader of the Conservative party to India in 2006, has been in close touch with the Indian community, extolling the 'Hindu way of life'.

He has often addressed large gatherings of Indian spiritual leader Morari Bapu in Britain.
At 43, he will join the ranks of Tony Blair who was also 43 when he became the Prime Minister in 1997. Blair was the youngest person to hold the apex office since Lord Liverpool in 1812, at the age of 42.

His party's manifesto says that the party will "work to establish a new special relationship with India, the world's largest democracy".

It also commits the party to "work towards greater stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan" and support India's bid for a seat in the UN Security Council.

Speaking at a recent 'Ram Katha' event addressed by Morari Bapu in Wembley, Cameron said the Hindus' commitment to hard work, family values and patriotism found resonance in the "British way of life".

He addressed a similar Morari Bapu event in Leicester some time ago. Wembley has a large Hindu population, and in 2008 Britain's state-funded Hindu school was established in the London borough.

Britain's Hindus constitute the third largest religious group after Christianity and Islam.
Heaping praise on British Hindus, he said members of the community, "don't just contribute to our society. You shine a light on how we must live".

Cameron said: "Hindus are the most family-orientated community in Britain. You are more likely to stay married, keep your families together and especially look after your elderly".
"While maintaining their religious and cultural traditions, British Hindus have consistently shown, through their service, their patriotism, their contribution to our society, that they are truly British too".

Picking on research conducted by the respected Runnymede Trust titled "Connecting British Hindus", Cameron supported the growing demand that Hindus in Britain should be called "British Hindus" or "British Indians" and not "British Asians".

The Tory leader also stressed the importance of role models within the community.
Although there have been moves to remove barriers of race and ethnicity, more needed to be done to encourage minorities to take up careers in politics, law and the armed forces, Cameron said.

"I want to see more people from your and other minority communities playing their rightful role in helping to run our country to make it a better place for us all to live in.
"The Hindu community is a shining example of the can-do, will-do attitude we need in our country," he said.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/...hip-india.html

It will be interesting to see what a Tory-LibDem coalition is going to do if it happens. The ball is in Nick Clegg's court now, he is touted as the king maker. With Conservative penny pinching and Lib-Dem disarmament rolled into one, all the big ticket defence items will be on the chopping block except for Trident. They may just have an aircraft carrier for sale. I know of a few high ranking French officers who advocate buying the Queen Elizabeth hull and equipping it in France as the PA2. If we get in negotiations early enough we can save it before she is closed up to install nuclear reactors. There may just be a second carrier in it for India with Prince of Wales. One thing is near for certain and that is the scrapping of the Eurofighter orders. UK would probably want to divert the rest of their buy to MRCA production as they have done with SKA. Cutting their F-35 orders will leave the US hurting for exports, India is their next target.

If David Cameron wins the vote then special relationship with india

Gordon Brown backs the same thing so it is little difference.

UK Revives a Relationship

UK revives a relationship

Premen Addy

Amidst a haystack of words on the parlous state of the British economy, the Queen’s speech at the State Opening of Parliament contained the following needle of intent: “My Government looks forward to an enhanced partnership with India.” The Times took up the theme with a substantial report entitled “Hague heads east for new ‘special relationship’.” It told of the Foreign Secretary’s planned sojourn to India sometime this summer as “Britain’s new Government tries to turn cultural and trade ties with the emerging superpower into a ‘genuinely special relationship’.”

The Foreign Secretary’s aides later confirmed that the country was considered vital to forging a ‘distinctive British foreign policy’. Before the election Mr William Hague said that Britain needed to reach out beyond traditional allies in the US and Europe and that has remained a priority for the coalition Government. An aide to Mr Hague suggested that “relations with India had lagged behind China by about five to 10 years.” The aide said: “The truth is that this is a key relationship that has been neglected and we aim to address that.” A Foreign and Commonwealth Office briefing note read: “We need to better recognise India’s rising global influence and work closely with the Indian Government to address the many challenges facing South Asia.”

No man is an island, neither is any country, as another of the Queen’s lines made clear: “My Government will work with the Afghan Government, Pakistan and international partners for lasting security and stability in Afghanistan.”Pakistan is now part of the AfPak equation. The wind of change is blowing upon us, but whether it turns Gale Force 9 or remains a zephyr will be revealed in the fullness of time.

That said, there is nothing like a crisis to concentrate minds. The financial meltdown coming on top of Mr Tony Blair’s bungled crime in Iraq and the debilitating drain of blood and treasure in the deepening futility of Afghanistan clearly carries a message on course correction from the gods. Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the US has lost its mythic attraction as a cure-all for the nation’s ills and insecurities following the loss of empire and the painful struggle to find a role in a transitional world. The Cold War was a distraction that concealed the hard realities. It enabled the UK to punch above its weight in the illusory pursuance of ‘Great Power’ status, which amounted to little more than inebriating dining rights at Uncle Sam’s high table.

The most myopic habits of the Raj were cast in stone. Islamic Pakistan, continuing the traditions and practices of the pre-partition Muslim League, became the hand-maiden of the Anglo-American post-War imperial enterprise. Phobias on international Communism and Russia resulted in a misbegotten dalliance between the West and conservative Islam, with its twin centres of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The containment of India, despite the commerce in ministerial banalities on shared values, was only less central to this narrative than the containment of the Soviet Union. Jammu & Kashmir, the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistani thraldom, coupled with the eventual convergence of Anglo-American interests in Pakistan with those of China —the compact unfolding in the aftermath of the Nixon-Kissinger visits to Beijing in 1971-73 — became a seamless robe of Whitehall policy.

The stitching, it would appear, is now coming off. With Russian pipelines under the Baltic Sea, soon to supply German industry and the German consumer directly with Siberian oil and gas, nearing completion, the most powerful economy in the EU may start singing from a different hymn-sheet to those of its principal partners in Europe and Nato. Pakistan is in a shambles, a menace to itself, its neighbours, and to Britain and America. The hyped Chinese economy is a giant bubble in the making, according to certain reputable financial experts, while Beijing’s close relations with a rogue North Korea and a terrorism-exporting Pakistan says little for its trustworthiness as a true international partner.

Furthermore, New Delhi has faced down Beijing’s threatening postures on the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, to which China lays claim. The re-calibration of British foreign policy is thus timely, opening the door to a win-win situation for both Britain and India. It would end the well honed dialogue of the deaf, the practice of talking past each other, as was once the wont of British and Indian diplomats and politicians, according to Mr Douglas Hurd, Mrs Margaret Thatcher’s suave and capable Foreign Secretary.

The new creative British conversation with India is likely to be based on all that is praiseworthy and lasting in Britain’s record in the sub-continent. Indian civilisation reached its nadir during late Mughal rule in the 18th century, but the first steps to its restoration and mutation as a modern nation state occurred under the aegis of Warren Hastings, when the Bhagavad Gita received its English rendition by Charles Wilkins, thanks to the Governor-General’s efforts to promote the work. A galaxy of British Indologists such as Jones, Carey, Colebrooke, Wilson, Prinsep, Hodgson, Tod, Cunningham and Max Muller et al over the next century returned to India her lost classical past, so seeding liberal Indian nationalism.

Of these early discoveries of Sanskrit, Hastings wrote: “These will survive when the British dominion in India shall have long ceased to exist, and when the sources which it once yielded of wealth and power are lost to remembrance.” Lest it be forgotten, the founder of the Indian National Congress in December 1885 was the revered Allan Octavian Hume and India’s political institutions and their cultural underpinnings were seeded in the British experience. The last British Viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten, was invited by Indian leaders to become free India’s first Governor-General, a gesture never quite appreciated by Britain’s great and good down the years.

At a time when the Indo-British reset button is being pressed, let us recall that Winston Churchill, who had once dismissed his Indian adversaries as “men of straw,” came to respect and laud the one among them he knew best in his last years as Britain’s Prime Minister. Writing to Jawaharlal Nehru on February 21, 1955, Churchill said: “I hope you will think of the phrase ‘The Light of Asia’. It seems to me that you may be able to do what no other human being could in giving India the lead, at least in the realm of thought, throughout Asia, with the freedom and dignity of the individual as the ideal rather than Communist Party drill book.”

We should have no HNS agreement with UK

David Cameron and team to carpet bomb India

S Kalyana Ramanathan / London July 14, 2010, 0:45 IST
UK’s new coalition Prime Minister and Tory party leader David Cameron is all set to ‘carpet bomb’ India in the last week of this month. In his first foreign state visit since he took office two months earlier, Cameron is expected to land in India with half his cabinet colleagues on July 26, two days ahead of his formal diplomatic mission, Business Standard has learnt.

Though the British Foreign Office or India’s Ministry of External Affairs are yet to officially announce his itinerary, sources in the UK government said Cameron himself would first land in Bangalore, while his cabinet colleagues will fly into other state capitals, including Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and, possibly, Chandigarh as well. This unique format has never been tried before, said foreign relations’ experts here.Some key members of the government who will be visiting India with Cameron include Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) George Osborne, business secretary Vince Cable, foreign secretary William Hague and possibly the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King.
As part of Britain’s financial austerity drive, the entire delegation is expected to fly economy class on regular commercial flights into India. The high-powered team is expected to start the India sojourn on July 26, reassembling in New Delhi on July 27 to brief Cameron on their individual visits to various state capitals, at a mini-Cabinet meet. Cameron’s scheduled official meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is on July 28, according to sources here.

Labour neglect
Part of the hype is meant to undo what Tory party MPs believe was the ‘neglect of India’ by the Gordon Brown government. Part of it could also be due to persisting differences on Afghanistan and due to Britain’s decision to reduce aid spending as part of its budget spending cuts.

Cameron’s visit, though yet to be played up by the media here, has elevated the expectation of members of the government, both in the UK and in India. Soon after forming a government in May, Cameron and foreign secretary Hague had announced plans to forge a “new and strategic relationship” with India.

There is a general belief in the government and in a section of the Tory party that the earlier Labour government had not done sufficient work on improving bilateral relations with India during its 13-year reign that ended in May this year.

A group selected from the Cabinet Office, the Prime Minister’s Office, Foreign Office and office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was formed weeks ahead of Cameron’s visit. It has been preparing the ground for the 43-year-old head of the British government’s first state visit since he took office.

Likely to be discussed at length during Cameron’s visit are the business and economic relationship, the G-20 future agenda and the future of Britain’s and India’s role in Afghanistan.

Ahead of the two heads of government meeting in Delhi, George Osborne and Mervyn King are expected to meet leaders of Indian business and Reserve Bank governor Duvvuri Subbarao in Mumbai.

A battalion of business leaders are expected to accompany Cameron. Businesses from the retail and financial services sectors are expected to be represented in large numbers within this group. Informally, Cameron has also asked Tory MP Jo Johnson to be his advisor on his India strategy. Johnson was first elected to the House of Commons this year. He was the South Asia bureau chief for Financial Times and based in New Delhi between 2005 and 2008. He is also the younger brother of London’s mayor, Boris Johnson.

UK seems to be trying to woo India all over again. A good 400 years after Thomas Roe. Only this time they wont find suckers here and they will be talking to people on equal terms.

UK says one thing and does the other. They are cutting down Indian Professionals from going into the UK, and India is David Cameron's first visit as a PM. What BS.

Good show.

That's how the cookies should fall.

They should come and not the other way around!

UK desperately need India on its side. Their economy is in shambles, geopolitical influence is waning . their arch rivals France and Germans have lot better tie with India. India is everything they need now. A rising economical and military power that can provide them a big market to help overcome slowdown . Also they need Indian assistance to achieve their goals in ASIA.They have realized that they cannot piggy-ride USA for influence in Asia.

I would not say France and Germany have better ties than UK with India. UK for all practical purpose, despite their initial double game has always had good relations with India. Remember all military hardware came from there during the 50s and 60s before the Soviets came in. Even then India bought Jags from there. UK continued to be one of the biggest donor and investor in India at one time.
Only now, UK and India will be talking as equal and not as a big nation talking to a smaller nation so to speak.

UK hopes nuclear, education deals will be inked during PM's India trip

London: Britain and India are expected to reach agreements on some "very big projects", including nuclear power and higher education, during the visit of prime minister David Cameron to New Delhi this month end."The prime minister is taking (to India) some of the key ministers in the government. This is the first really big concentrated visit of this coalition government abroad," UK's secretary of state for business, Vince Cable, told reporters.

There are some "very big projects" that Britain is hoping to bring to conclusions, he said, without mentioning exact dates for Cameron's India visit.

"Among them is the nuclear power projects which we have been discussing with them (India). One of the big areas where India has a large demand and we have potential suppliers is education; higher education. British Universities are
potentially very big collaborators in the field as well," Cable said.

Answering a question on the apprehension of Indian companies about visa restrictions, he indicated that the new coalition Government would try to accommodate the requirement of Indian companies.

"We are very conscious of the visa issue. Indian companies and the Indian government representatives have made it clear that they do need to bring people in. That is absolutely clear. We do fully understand that. Inter-company transfers is part of international business; we are open to business and that includes top level managers and other staff. There is no problem on that count."

Referring to the politics involved in it, the business secretary said "the new government is expected to demonstrate that immigration was under control; so set an overall target for people coming from overseas on work permits."

"But we do not want to discourage people coming into the country who have badly needed skills and the policy will be to make sure that it does not happen."

To a question on slight decline in the bilateral trade last year, Cable said "that is a temporary hick-up."

"If you had asked me ten years ago about Indian investment in the UK - whether it was significant - people would have thought you are slightly odd and it was inconceivable. The fact is that we know now we have major Indian investors coming here, which is a major breakthrough. One year's variation is not one thing or the other. High-profile companies like Tatas own substantial chunk of the British car and steel industry."

"We have so many pharmaceutical companies like Ranbaxy and top level IT coming from India, besides Bollywood companies producing films. For me it is a big historical shift from India being a country of receiver of investment, not open to business. Now it is much more open and has become exporter of capital and foreign investment. It is a major transformation and very welcome here," he said.

Cable said the visit of prime minister Cameron to India is "a major one" and "not one of the occasional visits you get."

To a question on British government's decision to review company take-overs, he said: "Takeover panel which is looking
at takeovers is an independent body.

"We are looking critically at the takeover rules. In the past it was very permissive and led to a lot of takeovers at reduced value, not increased value. This has nothing to do with foreign investment. Whether the company they are taking over is British or foreign is not the issue. If the rule changes, it will affect all companies."

Earlier, Cameron said his government has put the UK's ability to attract and retain inward investment at the heart of its economic recovery plans.

Addressing the UK Trade and Investment Business Summit of over 100 of the UK's leading investors, including Hutchison
Whampoa, Motorola, Tata Group, Toyota, Siemens, Emirates,
Fujitsu and Pfizer, Cameron said "attracting and retaining
inward investment is hugely important for our economic
recovery.

"We want Britain to be a place where companies can grow and succeed, where the world's biggest companies thrive, where
great ideas and innovations are turned into great products and
where we have a world-class workforce."

"We are determined to deliver the pro-business environment investors need; getting the deficit down to create certainty and stability, cutting business taxes, delivering flexible employment and cutting red tape and regulation," he said.

The prime minister said: "Whether your company is established here, expanding here or relocating here, Britain is back open for business and it's going to be better than before - and better than the competition."

The UK Trade and Investment today released Britain's national investment figures which showed that a record numbers of countries invested in the UK in 2009-10. Inward investment
generated 94,000 jobs over the past year, a 20% rise on the previous year.

India is the UK's fourth largest investor, with inward investment generating 5,889 jobs over the past year.

Addressing the gathering, business secretary Cable said: "Inward investment is crucial to the success of the UK's economy. It creates thousands of jobs for the country and is key to the economic growth of our regions."

"I know how attractive the UK is for doing business. That's why I'm so pleased that today I can meet with such vital international companies to encourage them to keep bringing business to Britain."

Rulda Singh’s murder: Four held in UK

Wednesday, 14 July 2010
PATIALA: The West Midlands Police in England has arrested four persons involved in the murder of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat chief Rulda Singh.

The accused were identified as Gursharan Bir Singh, Piara Singh Gill, Amritbir Singh and Paramjit Singh.

Gursharan Bir Singh, Piara Singh Gill, Amritbir Singh are British nationals and Paramjit Singh from Chamkaur Sahib, who migrated to UK a few years ago.

According to senior police officials, the four suspected persons had been arrested on the basis of a dossier given by the Punjab Police to the British Police sometime ago and their coordinated investigations.

Sixty-year-old Rulda Singh was shot at his shop-cum-flat at the Grain Market, Patiala in Punjab on July 28, 2009, by two assailants, who later fled in a car. While one bullet passed through his neck, another pumped into his chest. He was admitted to the PGI, Chandigarh, but succumbed to his injuries on August 15, 2009.

Patiala SSP Ranbir Singh Khatra, who is heading investigations into the matter, said, a team of the West Midlands Police visited Punjab and held discussions with the Intelligence Bureau, the top brass of the Punjab Police and Patiala cops.

During investigations that continued for the past several months, the leads pointed towards the involvement of some Sikh extremist groups in the UK in the murder case.

Khatra said the role of the four suspected persons in the murder case was being investigated, adding that, “two of them are believed to be British nationals.”

He said a joint probe with the Britian Police points that Paramjit Pamma, Pyara Singh Gill, Amritbir and Gursharan Bir are involved in the case.

Police officials told that investigations strongly indicate that Paramjit Pamma masterminded the plot and Gursharan Bir and Pyara Singh are the main suspects who fired gunshots.

On September 24, 2009, the Patiala Police had arrested two persons, Darshan Singh and Jagmohan Singh, in connection with the murder case. At that time, cops had stated that the Babbar Khalsa International was behind the murder and the main objective to eliminate Rulda was its ideology.

Meanwhile, though the Punjab Police is waiting to get information about the four arrested persons, investigations by the British Police into the murder case were being conducted by officials from the West Midlands Polices’ CID and its Counter-Terrorism Unit.