Rajnath Singh set to visit UK, first by Indian Defence Minister in 22 years

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to embark upon a three-day visit to the UK from Monday, seen as significant to the bilateral partnership in the sphere of defence and security as the last ministerial level visit took place 22 years ago.

Singh’s previously planned visit to the UK in June 2022 was called off by the Indian side for “protocol reasons”, making next week’s tour a highly anticipated one.

Besides wide-ranging talks with his UK counterpart, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, Singh is expected to inspect a ceremonial Guard of Honour and undertake visits to Mahatma Gandhi and Dr B.R. Ambedkar memorials in London.

A community interaction with members of the Indian diaspora in the UK is also expected to be part of his three-day itinerary.

“This visit is significant in terms of both optics and substance. In terms of the former, this is the first visit of India’s defence minister to the UK in 22 years – the last visit was by then defence minister of a previous BJP-led government, George Fernandes, to London on 22 January 2002,” said Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, Senior Fellow for South and Central Asian Defence, Strategy and Diplomacy at the London-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

As a defence analyst who has been championing such a visit in his high-level discussions over the years, Roy-Chaudhury believes Singh’s proposed visit next week indicates an improvement in India’s political relationship and the building of trust with the UK following British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to India for the G20 Summit in September last year.