UK to expand cooperation with India over Indo-Pacific

New Delhi: – The QUAD countries have concurred to cooperate in the Indo-Pacific sector to stop the Chinese expansionist activities. Indications of this cooperation becoming more comprehensive are being received after the meeting between the leaders of India, the United States, Japan and Australia. There are also clear indications that even the United Kingdom will seek India’s cooperation to form a front against China. Analysts claim that India and ASEAN countries’ cooperation will prove vital for the United Kingdom, especially after exiting from the European Union.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to visit India in April. Before the visit, Prime Minister Johnson held telephonic talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Johnson had praised India. He said that India has become the pharmacy of the world supplying vaccines to the world during the telephonic talk. It is claimed that Prime Minister Johnson will announce the British policies regarding the Indo-Pacific during his visit to India in April. This could be an important achievement for India, which has already succeeded in establishing cooperation with the United States, Japan and Australia because the new British policy will attach the highest priority to cooperation with India.

The leading countries in the world have agreed that the Indo-Pacific Chinese activities have reached dangerous proportions. While the QUAD cooperation is being revealed to the world, the European countries are watching the Chinese activities seriously. France has sent its warships to the region and has announced that this patrolling is for freedom of movement in the region. Destroyer from the French navy is on a visit to Vietnam. Moreover, France claims that the purpose of the visit is the same.

France is taking these precautions, given the perceived threat to its islands in the Indo-Pacific from China. At the same time, France has made all the preparations to counter the Chinese threat seeking cooperation from India. In this situation, indications are that the United Kingdom also has prepared to frame its policy for the Indo-Pacific region. As per the media, Prime Minister Johnson will announce the policy during his India visit. Currently, the British relations with China have been strained due to various causes. The United Kingdom is opposed to the oppression of the pro-democracy protestors in Hongkong, who are disregarding the Chinese domination. China had signed an agreement with the United Kingdom while taking over Hongkong, that the Hongkong population will not face any oppression at the hands of the Chinese government. The United Kingdom is reminding China regarding the agreement.

Along with this, the United Kingdom has realised that the Chinese expansionist policy in the Indo-Pacific is equally dangerous. Therefore, the United Kingdom is apparently taking rapid steps to increase cooperation with India. Accordingly, the United Kingdom had invited India for the G-7 meeting held in that country. At the same time, the United Kingdom has profusely praised the Indian initiative to supply the vaccine for Coronavirus to the world. The United Kingdom had made crushing criticism in the past that the Coronavirus pandemic spread in the world because of China. Some people in the United Kingdom had demanded that a huge compensation be recovered from China, responsible for spreading the pandemic.

Hence, the importance of British cooperation with India is being underlined against this background.