India Seeks Deeper UK Collaboration in Defence Innovation
India’s Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane has called upon the United Kingdom’s defence industry to explore strategic partnerships with Indian defence startups, emphasizing co-development and co-production as key pillars for future cooperation. His remarks came during a high-level interaction with UK defence stakeholders, as part of the India-UK Defence Industry Forum held in London.
Aramane highlighted India’s vibrant and rapidly growing defence startup ecosystem, backed by government initiatives such as Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and the Make in India programme. These platforms, he said, offer British firms not only access to cost-effective manufacturing but also opportunities to jointly innovate and address next-generation security challenges.
Focus on Technology Transfer and Joint Ventures
The Defence Secretary stressed that India is particularly interested in partnerships that allow technology transfer, intellectual property sharing, and long-term industrial collaboration. With over 340 startups currently working under the iDEX platform, India is actively scouting global partners to scale up production of AI-based systems, unmanned platforms, cyber-security tools, and advanced electronics.
He assured British industry leaders that India is streamlining defence procurement norms and has created favourable policies, including defence corridors, production-linked incentives (PLI), and export facilitation mechanisms, to attract foreign capital and technical expertise.
India-UK Defence Ties Enter Strategic Phase
The outreach to UK industry comes as India and the United Kingdom strengthen their broader defence and strategic partnership. Recent bilateral dialogues have focused on maritime cooperation, joint exercises, and defence technology sharing. The Defence Secretary’s visit is seen as an effort to convert these discussions into commercial and industrial collaboration.
India is also keen on inviting UK-based companies to participate in joint R&D projects with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and private tech startups, with an eye on dual-use technologies that can serve both civil and military domains.
A Win-Win Proposition for Global Industry
Aramane positioned Indian startups as agile, cost-efficient, and technically sophisticated, making them ideal partners for Western firms seeking to expand their global supply chains and reduce dependency on traditional defence hubs. He pointed out that India’s defence manufacturing base is now capable of not only meeting domestic requirements but also catering to export markets, especially in the Global South.
The Defence Secretary encouraged UK firms to look beyond traditional OEM-to-government contracts and instead explore long-term value creation by embedding themselves within India’s innovation ecosystem.
