The UK has pledged to help India build its advanced fighter jets. Here's why

Seen here with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday during a visit to India, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was the first western leader to take steps to reduce Indian dependence on Russian arms. Both leaders called on Russia for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

The first concrete attempt by the West to move India away from its dependence on Russian arms was promised by Britain.

The move was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he visited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi last week.

Defense News reported that the offer likely relates to the U.K.'s sixth- generation Tempest Future Combat Air System program.

The U.K. will issue an open general export license to India to speed up defense procurement. This is the first time that this facility has been extended to a country outside of the European Union.

If the U.S. were really serious about helping allies and friends, it could do so. But Russia and China have built dependence over decades.

C. Raja Mohan, visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, told CNBC that the new system of open general license will greatly enhance India's access to U.K. weapons and related technologies.

The trade agreement between India and the U.K. would be ready in October. An interim agreement that was supposed to be signed by Johnson during his trip did not happen.

London is one step ahead of Washington in its embrace of India.

There was no talk of transferring weapons technology when the foreign and defense ministers of the U.S. and India met in Washington in April. The two sides promised to create a framework to advance cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and semiconductors.

Bruce Bennett, a defense researcher at the California-based think tank, said that the U.S. is slowly waking up to the fact that Russia and China use economic leverage for political purposes.

If the United States were serious about helping allies, it could do so. Russia and China have been dependent on each other for decades. Bennett told CNBC that it will take a few years to turn that dependence around.

Like the U.S., Britain is eager to reduce India's dependence on Russia and draw Delhi closer to the West.

Mohan, the NUS professor, said that Britain's move will allow India's strategic cooperation with the West to grow faster.

Pravin Sawhney, the founder of Force, a defense magazine in India, said that the British offer wouldn't be useful. Russia has no restrictions. He said that Putin is a one-stop shop for India.

Largest arms importer

India, the largest arms importer in the world, has diversified its supplies over the past decade and has imported arms from France, the U.S. and Israel.

It will be difficult to get rid of Russia.

Russian weaponry requires a constant supply of spare parts.

SIPRI, a Swedish institute that tracks arms exports and imports around the world, says that India imported more than half of its arms from Russia. It was followed by France at 27% and the U.S. at 12%.

Israel's imports came in fourth place. India accounted for 37% of Israeli arms exports.

Johnson said Britain was pursuing an "Indo-Pacific tilt", ignoring the questionable human rights record of Modi's Hindu nationalist government.

India is the centerpiece of the western nations' strategy to contain China in the region. The U.S., Australia, and Japan are part of the Quadrilateral security dialogue.

India, which is dependent on Russian weapons for most of its arsenal, has not joined its Quad partners in condemning the Russia attack on Ukraine.

India has increased its purchases of Russian oil and coal despite international sanctions against Moscow.