The UK defence sector attends Aero India, India’s premier aviation show.

Aero India is India’s biggest air show, and a lot of people from the UK defence industry went to show that they want to work with India more on research, development, and training.

UK delegation supports “Atmanirbharta” at Aero India. During the week, the delegation will meet with a variety of Indian stakeholders to remind them of the UK’s goal to not only “make in India,” but also “create in India,” according to a press release from the British High Commission.

The UK delegation will continue to talk about key ways to work together, such as a strategic partnership for a jet engine development programme and technology for electric propulsion on ships.

Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, MBDA UK, Thales UK, Leonardo, Smiths Detection, Strongfield Technologies, ASL, Reliance Precision, and Ricardo are all British companies that will be at Aero India.

The Minister for Defense Procurement, Alex Chalk, is in charge of the UK delegation, which is made up of people from the government, the military, and the defence industry.

Air Vice-Marshal Richard Maddison of the Royal Air Force and big British companies like Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, MBDA UK, Thales UK, Collins Aerospace, and Leonardo are among those involved.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will be coming to the UK next month for the Cobra Warrior exercise. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is excited to meet the IAF. The release said that this will be the first time that the IAF takes part in the multilateral air combat exercise, which will include air forces from 17 countries.

After going to the UP Global Investors Summit, where the UK was a country partner, the delegation went to Bengaluru to find out about investment opportunities in India’s northern defence corridor.

Alex Chalk, Minister for Defence Procurement, said, “As we continue to build the UK-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, I’m very excited to attend Aero India. It’s a great chance to show that the UK is committed to building strong bilateral relationships and delivering on the 2030 Roadmap.”

The UK-India Defence Industry Joint Working Group held its first meeting at the Defence Expo in Gandhinagar, India, last year. This group is helping to speed up collaboration between the two countries by integrating Indian defence suppliers into the global supply chain of UK defence companies.

“Recent joint exercises with the Indian Navy, Army, and Air Force show how strongly our two countries want to work together to make the Indo-Pacific region free, open, and safe,” Chalk said.

Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India, said, “I heard today about Prime Minister Modi’s plan to build India’s own defence capabilities. The UK is the right partner to help India reach this goal by sharing knowledge, increasing interoperability, training and exercising more, and increasing industrial collaboration, including through design and make in India.”

“The UK is ready to help India with its defence and security needs as it moves towards becoming atmanirbhar,” he said.