An important one would have been on a logistics agreement similar to the LEMOA between the United States of America and India. Discussions on the joint development and production of an engine for a fighter plane were also on the anvil

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh cancelled his three-day visit to London today. Singh was going to be the first Indian defence minister to visit Britain in two decades, but decided against going at virtually the last moment. He was to leave on Sunday for his meetings on Monday and Tuesday.

Instead, Singh will be in Hyderabad tomorrow for a visit to Bharat Dynamics Ltd and then, he will be at a high-level BJP meeting on Sunday. The last Indian defence minister to visit London was George Fernandes when Atal Behari Vajpayee was Prime Minister. Sources said the visit could happen at a later date.

Several important agreements were on the agenda. An important one would have been on a logistics agreement similar to the LEMOA between the United States of America and India. Discussions on the joint development and production of an engine for a fighter plane were also on the anvil. It would have been a follow-up after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s very successful visit to India recently.

A similar, if unrelated, development has been the recent cancellation of the Indian Air Force’s helicopter air display team to Britain for the Farnborough air show beginning on July 18. A group of IAF personnel, part of the helicopter air display team, were to have gone to Farnborough, a prestigious air show, with five Dhruv or Advanced Light helicopters. They would have gone in an IAF transport plane, presumably the C-17. But with some logistical help not forthcoming, the costs were becoming too high.