Boris Johnson and Narendra Modi agree on security deal at meeting in New Delhi

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to a new defence and security co-operation deal with India at a meeting with his “special friend” Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday.

Western countries, led by the US, have been attempting to lure India away from its long-time ally Russia, its main arms supplier, since the invasion of Ukraine that New Delhi has refused to condemn.

“We've agreed to a new and expanded Defence and Security Partnership, a decades-long commitment that will … forge tighter bonds between us,” Mr Johnson said in a joint press statement in which he also called Mr Modi his “special friend".

Mr Johnson, who is on a two-day visit to India, arrived in New Delhi late on Thursday after making a day-long trip to western Gujarat state where he announced new investment worth £1 billion ($1.3bn).

The two leaders on Friday agreed to deepen bilateral ties in the defence, security and trade sectors, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region where China is expanding its influence.

Mr Johnson said the two countries discussed next-generation defence and security collaboration across sea, land, air, space and cyber in the Indo-Pacific region.

“The threats of autocratic coercion have grown even further and it's therefore vital that we deepen our co-operation including our shared interest in keeping the Indo-Pacific open and free,” he said.

“For defence procurement, we have agreed to work together to meet threats across land, sea and air, space and cyber, including partnering on new fighter jet technology, maritime technology to detect and respond to threats in the oceans,” he said.

Early on Friday, Mr Johnson laid flowers at the tomb of Mahatma Gandhi before Mr Modi received the UK prime minister at a ceremonial reception at the Presidential Palace.

The British leader thanked Mr Modi for the “fantastic welcome” and said his India visit was a “very auspicious moment” for both countries.

Mr Johnson’s India trip has been twice postponed because of Covid-19 flare-ups in each country and comes as a respite from the “partygate” controversy that has sparked calls for him to step down.

British MPs on Thursday agreed to launch an investigation by a parliamentary committee into Mr Johnson's previous denials to the House of Commons that gatherings at Downing Street during the pandemic lockdowns constituted a breach of the government’s own laws, sparking widespread public anger.

But he rejected the demands and insisted he would remain in office, although admitting that he understood “people's feelings”.

Mr Johnson's India visit comes after hectic diplomatic efforts by western countries to lure the South Asian nation away from its long-time ally Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Post-Brexit, London has been seeking new markets and free-trade agreements, especially with countries in the Asia-Pacific region that are some of the fastest-growing economies.

It is also negotiating a free-trade agreement with India under the “road map 2030" that outlines plans to boost bilateral trade to more than $100bn over the next 10 years.

India is the second-largest foreign direct investor in the UK. Its exports to the UK stood at $8.15bn in 2020-21, while imports totalled $4.95bn.

But New Delhi has been insisting on visa relaxations for students and professionals in exchange for a deal, with Mr Johnson hinting that his government will accommodate concerns that could have stalled the talks.

“UK is creating an India-specific, open general export licence, reducing bureaucracy and slashing delivery times. We aim to have a new free trade agreement by Diwali [in October] … this could double our trade and investments by the end of the decade,” Mr Johnson said.

The British prime minister also emphasised that the two countries are taking forward the Green Grid Solar Power initiative set up to provide surplus renewable energy to create an integrated global electricity network.

The two countries have signed new partnerships on defence, artificial intelligence and green energy, along with investment deals in areas including robotics, electric vehicles and satellite launches.

Trump v Khan

2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US

2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks

2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit

2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.

Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”

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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.	United States
2.	China
3.	UAE
4.	Japan
5	Norway
6.	Canada
7.	Singapore
8.	Australia
9.	Saudi Arabia
10.	South Korea

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Following fashion

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Losing your balance

You end up with too much exposure to an individual company or sector that has taken your fancy.

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The biog

Year of birth: 1988

Place of birth: Baghdad

Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany

Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading

Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.

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