Outward facing, mercantile and modern societies, our nations — the United Kingdom and India — have much in common. Although separated by thousands of miles, we are inherently connected by the ocean, the world’s great global commons. Trade in food and goods underwrites our mutual prosperity, supporting the lives and livelihoods of so many. Global trade is predominantly a maritime activity, and this remains a fundamental truth in the Information Age too. But, today, our reliance on the maritime is only increasing, with the recognition that the data supporting online banking and capital flows also moves via underwater cables.
Both our national and maritime strategies are inescapably intertwined. Our nations need to secure, and make free from aggression and exploitation, the global lifelines of goods and resource that flow across the seas and on which our economies rely. But the norms of behaviour upon the seas — norms which have enabled globalisation to flourish, and the wider rules-based International Order of which they are a part — are all increasingly under threat, from the Black Sea to the Red Sea to the South China Sea.
Operation Prosperity Guardian
Instability, conflict, or aggressive and threatening actions are impacting not only those who seek to work in or pass through these waters but also the international community. Local actions are having global ramifications, affecting the movement of goods and food that are vital for life and livelihoods. It is why, in December 2023, the United Kingdom, the United States and other partners joined in Operation Prosperity Guardian to defend and protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Houthi attacks are indiscriminate and putting at risk the lives of innocent seafarers who seek to make their livelihood at sea. In doing so, the Houthis are risking the stability of the very maritime trade routes that supply food and aid to Yemen and are the lifeblood of all our economies. I am pleased that we are working alongside the Indian Navy too to address these threats to the free movement of global trade.
The Houthi’s use of violence in pursuit of their objectives has an obvious synergy with Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.
The U.K., India, and the world have a common interest in ensuring this wanton violence and disregard for international law are not allowed to become normalised.
The Ukraine conflict
This week marks two years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea. In 2022, the Russian ‘special military operation’ planned to surround Kyiv within three days, bring down the government within a week, and subjugate most of the country in less than a month. In all these objectives, Russia has failed.
Over the last two years, Ukraine has persevered as a sovereign and independent nation. It stands as a sentinel for democracy and freedom. Its armed forces have regained 50% of the territory illegally seized by Russia since February 2022. They have taken the fight to the Black Sea Fleet and, utilising novel and innovative tactics, have destroyed or damaged numerous ships, pushing the Russian Navy ever further east. This has reopened maritime corridors, enabling the flow of grain exports which are the lifeblood of the Ukrainian economy and a source of global food security.
The U.K. has supported Ukraine continuously and will provide £2.5 billion in military aid in 2024-25, making for a total of almost £12 billion in military, humanitarian, and financial support to Ukraine since 2022. We will remain steadfastly by their side until they prevail.
In this more unstable, more uncertain age, the need to invest in our strategic relationships is clearer than ever. I am heartened, therefore, by the great strides the U.K. and India are making together.
A shift in the centre of gravity of the global economy is already under way and by 2050 it will sit firmly in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. The U.K.’s national prosperity is intrinsically linked to international markets and having a voice and presence within them is essential; the establishment in 2023 of the U.K. tilt to the Indo-Asia-Pacific as a permanent pillar of policy is, therefore, hugely welcome.
The possibilities for global prosperity cannot be understated and the importance of the Indo-Asia Pacific, not just to the United Kingdom, but to the world, has never been clearer.
Stronger defence ties
The rapid deepening of the U.K.-India defence partnership has, therefore, been most welcome and the levels of interaction between British and Indian forces are higher than in many years. I have been particularly grateful for the leadership and the support of the Chief of the Indian Navy, Admiral R. Hari Kumar. Since the visit of our Carrier Strike Group during its inaugural deployment in 2021, there have been record numbers of U.K. ship visits and the welcome, hospitality and support extended to them by India has been excellent.
They will be followed by our Littoral Strike Group as it enters the Indo-Asia Pacific later this year to conduct training, exercises, and operations with our partners. The Carrier Strike Group will be deployed again to the region in 2025 and we are seeking opportunities to further build our shared U.K. and Indian operational capabilities during this phase.
Our defence industrial partnership is, similarly, going from strength to strength. From electric warship propulsion to complex weaponry to jet engines, our work, collectively, is helping to share understanding, knowledge, and expertise. And our military education ties, 75 years in the making, are to be boosted this year too with officers from all three services of the Indian Armed Forces joining British service academies as instructors, sharing their experiences with future military leaders, and gaining ones to bring back to India, all of which make us collectively stronger.
History teaches us that strategies of isolationism or coercion have rarely produced strong coalitions. Rather, it is our friends, partners and allies who will be our source of support and strength against the challenges that we face, and who will uphold the values that we champion. The rules-based International Order has kept the peace for decades and it is incumbent on us, as like-minded proponents of peace and prosperity, to continue to advocate for it. In this ever more unstable world, the U.K. is fortunate to have India as a good friend.
Admiral Sir Ben Key is First Sea Lord and the Chief of Naval Staff, Royal Navy
