Theresa May treated to Indian military display on final day of official visit
THERESA May today saw a display of Indian military might and visited an Indian-UK venture making A330 wing parts for Airbus on the final day of her official visit to the country.
She visited a primary school in Bangalore which is among those set to benefit from educational computers produced by a London-based technology company.
While there, she and the excited flag-waving students were treated to a noisy flypast by Indian Air Force fighter jets known as Tejas, which sped over with booming roars, as well as slower displays from other aircraft including a helicopter which stopped and reversed in mid flight.
It was the first flypast of its kind offered by India to a visiting head of government and UK sources said it showed the closeness of the twoi countries' defence relationship, which Mrs May has sought to prepare to deepen during her visit.
Indian PM Narendra Modi was honoured on his visit to London last November with an RAF flypast.
Next week the Red Arrows will visit India to perform an aerial display with Indian counterparts the Surya Kirans, in Hyderabad.
May outlines prosperous post-Brexit trade deal with India
India has the world's second largest army and is the biggest importer of defence equipment - facts which helped pile pressure on the UK government to end direct overseas aid to the fast-growing company last year.
Collaboration demonstrates the strnegth of the UK's partnership with India
Mrs May later visited Stonehill Primary School in Bangalore, where she was engulfed in a crowd of excited flag-waving children to witness a flypast of Indian Air Force jets and helicopters in her honour.
At the school, the Prime Minister met the first three women to be commissioned to train as IAF fighter pilots in Hawk jets.
She also visited the Dynamatic Technologies' facility in Bangalore as Airbus takes delivery of the first set of A330 wing components, produced jointly in the UK and India.
The plant is providing flap track beams for Airbus' twin aisle A330 model. The parts are machined in Dynamatic's facilities in Swindon, and Bristol and then manufactured and assembled in Bangalore.
The contract is worth up to £120million to the UK economy over 10 years, and creates 60 new jobs across Dynamatic's two UK sites and 100 jobs at their Bangalore site.
She said the collaboration "demonstrates the strnegth of the UK's partnership with India".
Mrs May took about 40 UK businesspeople to India as part of a drive to boost exports to the country and encourage further Indian investment in Britain in the immediate future and pave the way for free trade deals after we leave the European Union.
Indian-UK business worth around £1billion expected to created more than 1,300 jobs in the UK, were being signed during the visit, Mrs May's first direct government-to-government visit outside Europe since she became PM in July.
However, her visit, which began in New Delhi where she flew in on Sunday night, was overshadowed by rows over India's call for Britain to offer their nationals more, easier and cheaper visas.
Mrs May insisted to PM Modi that the system was good, but she hinted at further concessions to streamline the system if India helps speed up the removal of Indians who have overstayed their visas in Britain, including by accepting fingerprint evidence as proof of identity and nationality instead of demanding paperwork which might have been destroyed or lost.
The PM was also visiting the ancient Hindu Sri Someshwara Temple in the Ulsoor District of Bangalore, also known in India as Bengaluru, to pay her respects.
She was set to take part in a Hinduy Aarti (blessing) in which light from wicks soaked in purified butter - ghee - or camphor is offered to the deities and the supplicant draws their hands together across the top of the flame and touch their eyes, then being offered Kumkum Tika (red power) to touch and dab a single spot on her forehead.