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UP Global Investors Summit: UK to invest in defence, aerospace and medical sectors in Uttar Pradesh
United Kingdom ready to commit to a historic partnership with India with largest ever transfer of jet engine technology, says British minister Alex Chalk at UP Global Investors Summit
The United Kingdom will invest in defence, aerospace and medical sectors in Uttar Pradesh, British minister of state for defence procurement Alex Chalk said on the third and final day of the UP Global Investors Summit in Lucknow on Sunday.
He was speaking at the United Kingdom Partner country session held at Dadhichi Hall.
“It is a matter of pride for me to participate in GIS-23. Standing on this great land of Uttar Pradesh and inviting the whole world to invest is a big achievement. At the same time, it is also a big achievement that we are witnessing this programme in a state known as the ‘Rice Basket’.”
Chalk expressed commitment to maintaining a partnership with the state, especially in the defence sector.
“Uttar Pradesh is playing its role on a large scale under the ‘Make in India’ campaign towards meeting India’s defence needs and our contribution in this role will be in many areas, including investment as well as manufacturing of strategic and tactical weaponry. With this, Uttar Pradesh will be able to meet the defence needs of India,” Chalk said.
“Besides, Uttar Pradesh will establish itself globally in terms of exports. An able Uttar Pradesh is important not only for India, and the Asia-Pacific region, but for the whole world, and for this reason, the world is looking forward to witnessing the realisation of the vision of Uttar Pradesh’s golden future with hope and expectation,” he said.
Chalk described the India -United Kingdom defence partnership as a geopolitical necessity.
“There is growing feeling that the world is becoming more dangerous. People are aware of China’s increasing belligerence and its systematic challenge to the international rules. We need to exhilarate our partnership in defence,” he said.
A sovereign, self-reliant and resilient country like India’s requirement for a sovereign defence industry is not only vital for the region but also for the world, he said.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recognises this importance and recently he joined a meeting with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his British counterpart Tim Barrow in London to discuss the plan to strengthen trade, technology and defence ties with India, he said.
UK is ready to commit to a historic partnership with India with the largest ever transfer of the jet engine technology, he said.
The technology will give thrust to the Make in India capability to ensure that India becomes one of the six countries in the world to own this capability, Chalk said. That will empower India to export future fighter planes on own terms and in its own interest around the world, he said.
“Uttar Pradesh is full of promises and it is one the fastest growing regions of the country. A state of more than 240 million people has become a centre of research and development. A state that is hungry for its future just as Britain is. We are aware of the ambition of chief minister Yogi Adityanath for Uttar Pradesh — for the growth of the economy, for the development of infrastructure, to establish U.P. as the engine of new India,” he said.
He also said the United Kingdom and Uttar Pradesh will make a comprehensive partnership to become engines of each other’s growth.
To demonstrate this commitment, more than 30 British businesses are partnering with their Indian counterpart, the British minister said.
“Today they are signing seven MoUs committing 165 million pounds with UP that will generate thousands of jobs,” he said.
Asserting that no G20 country has invested more in India than Britain, he said India was the United Kingdom’s second biggest job creator.
India and the United Kingdom have joint defence industry group working to enhance their strategic partnership and collaboration in space technology, he added.
There is a huge opportunity for our industry to collaborate in electric propulsion technology to power the Indian Navy and complex weapon system to keep our country safe, he said.
A HOMECOMING
Alex Chalk said his visit to Lucknow was more of a homecoming.
“I spent four years as a young graduate from Oxford University in Bakshi Ka Talab area working as a teacher among the local people. On Saturday, I visited Bakshi Ka Talab on Saturday to have reunion with the people who had influenced me as a young graduate,” he said
The new slogan of partnership that comes to my mind is that of UK-UP saab ka saath, saab ka vikas, he said.
UK’S CONTRIBUTION TO SUMMIT EXEMPLARY, SAYS YOGI ADITYANATH
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said that UK, as a partner country, had contributed to GIS not only in the field of defence and aerospace but also in the field of food processing. The investors will get full cooperation from the state government in carrying their projects forward, he said at the UP Global Investors Summit.
Assuring the UK delegation, Adityanath said that every investment made in the state will not only be safe, but the state government will also provide full help under its policy to make it fruitful for the investor. During the session, six UK companies made investment proposals in the state.
Expressing gratitude to the UK government, Adityanath said that the UK’s participation and contribution as a partner country in taking GIS 23 to a new height of success are exemplary.
“Defence and aerospace are our top priorities among the 25 sectors identified to give a flight to development to the state. We are taking this forward with the government of India on the path of rapid development. The state government has also issued its policy regarding defence and aerospace and is working to advance the possibilities so that it can emerge as a hub in this sector,” he said, according to a PTI report.
“I have no hesitation in saying that India and UK relations have a strong historical background and Prime Minister Modi has played a big role in taking these bilateral relations further. As a result of this, today not only all the investors associated with the UK are becoming partners in GIS-23, but the defence procurement minister of the UK himself has come with his huge delegation to take forward those possibilities in the state,” Adityanath said.
