Sam Hogg's British Diplomacy Tracker
I thought I would never see the “formal” launch of Defence Partnership India!
DP-I has had a very long gestation: created back in September 2023 (https://thewire.in/diplomacy/why-the-defence-ministers-visit-to-the-uk-could-be-pivotal), it had a false start in Jan 2024 (https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/online-analysis/2024/01/indias-defence-minister-visits-the-uk/). The groundwork goes back even further, to a series of deliberate BoJo-era MoUs to foster mil2mil relations, since 2022 (“one of the things we have been doing with India is trying to develop a series of baseline agreements that will make it easier for us to do business with the Indians” https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/12871/html/).
A long-term bet that it is finally paying off?
That’s such useful background. Thanks Andrea! Crazy to see something actual materialise!
"The chiefs want a budget of 2.65 per cent of GDP but the Treasury is adamant that they should work to 2.3 per cent.”
How do I get this feeling were living in 1938? Although, even in that year UK defence spending had risen from 2.2% to 6.9%.
We are no longer a serious country.
I thought I would never see the “formal” launch of Defence Partnership India!
DP-I has had a very long gestation: created back in September 2023 (https://thewire.in/diplomacy/why-the-defence-ministers-visit-to-the-uk-could-be-pivotal), it had a false start in Jan 2024 (https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/online-analysis/2024/01/indias-defence-minister-visits-the-uk/). The groundwork goes back even further, to a series of deliberate BoJo-era MoUs to foster mil2mil relations, since 2022 (“one of the things we have been doing with India is trying to develop a series of baseline agreements that will make it easier for us to do business with the Indians” https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/12871/html/).
A long-term bet that it is finally paying off?
That’s such useful background. Thanks Andrea! Crazy to see something actual materialise!
"The chiefs want a budget of 2.65 per cent of GDP but the Treasury is adamant that they should work to 2.3 per cent.”
How do I get this feeling were living in 1938? Although, even in that year UK defence spending had risen from 2.2% to 6.9%.
We are no longer a serious country.