Examine how the India–UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership under Vision 2035 is turning into concrete defence and security cooperation.

India and the UK adopted India-UK Vision 2035 in London on 24 July 2025. It makes Defence and Security a pillar of their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership [3]. Operational cooperation has turned into action quickly, but the industrial promises are moving more slowly.

Operational cooperation: naval exercises

• KONKAN-25 (05–12 Oct 2025) brought together INS Vikrant's carrier battle group and the UK Carrier Strike Group led by HMS Prince of Wales. Norwegian and Japanese ships also took part. PIB explicitly linked the exercise to Vision 2035 [2].
• KONKAN-26 (08–15 Oct 2026) was held off Plymouth. INS Trishul carried out air, surface and sub-surface drills, including anti-submarine exercises and cross-deck landings [1].
• The two navies take turns hosting, and the 2026 edition tested the Indian Navy's ability to operate far from home.
• Vision 2035 also expands tri-service training and the exchange of instructors between military institutions [3].

Defence-industrial cooperation

• A 10-year Defence Industrial Roadmap for joint design and production of equipment [3].
• EPCP (Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership) covers electric engines for warships. JEACT (Jet Engine Advanced Core Technologies) covers jet-engine core technology, a long-standing gap in India's defence self-reliance [3].

Regional maritime security

• Under India's Indo-Pacific Oceans' Initiative (IPOI), the two countries agreed to set up a Regional Maritime Security Centre of Excellence. It will help Indian Ocean countries build capacity against non-traditional threats [3].

Gaps in implementation

• Exercises last about a week [1]. They show the navies can work together, but not that industrial cooperation has deepened.
• Co-developing engines depends on sustained trust and on willingness to share technology, so results will take longer than exercises.
• A joint mechanism of senior officials monitors the Roadmap, and Vision 2035 is reviewed every year at Foreign Minister level [3]. Neither has yet produced public, measurable milestones.

The partnership has moved quickly from paper to sea, but its industrial and regional promises are still largely commitments. To close the gap, the two governments could set time-bound milestones for EPCP and JEACT, publish progress reports from the review mechanism, and start running the IPOI centre. This would make the partnership a real contributor to a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific [2].