LONDON: The UK Government on Wednesday unveiled plans to deploy Royal Navy warships to the Indian Ocean region later this year to operate and train with Indian forces, signalling what it described as the growing importance of the strategic relationship between the two countries.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the Littoral Response Group (LRG) will be deployed this year and the Carrier Strike Group (CRG) in 2025 for joint India-UK training. The deployment of the UK’s “most advanced naval capabilities” has been flagged by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a “decisive step” in bolstering UK-India security ties.
“There is absolutely no question that the world is becoming increasingly contested, so it’s vital that we continue to build on our strategic relationships with key partners like India,” said Shapps, underlining Britain’s commitment to maintaining a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific.