India has become the largest importer of weapons in the world with purchases that constantly increase to account for almost 10 percent of all imports around the world in 2019-23.
India’s efforts to support a long dependence on Russian military hardware are fruit after the courtship of new Western allies and a rapidly growing domestic weapons industry, analysts say.
At a time when Moscow’s military-industrial complex is occupied with the current war in Ukraine, India has made the modernization of its armed forces a priority.
This urgency has increased together with the tensions between the most populous nation in the world and its northern China neighbor, especially from a 2020 mortal clash between its troops.
“The perception of India of its security environment against China has been dramatically altered,” said Harsh V Pant, of the group of experts from the Observer Research Foundation of New Delhi. AFP.
The relations between the two neighbors came into free fall after the crash on their shared border, which killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese.
“He has shaken the system and realizes that we have to do what is better now, and very fast,” Pant said about the incident.
India has become the largest importer of weapons in the world with purchases that constantly increase to represent almost 10 percent of all imports around the world in 2019-23, the International Institute for Peace Research of La Paz de la Paz de la Paz said last year Stockholm (sipri).
More is in process, with orders worth tens of billions of dollars from the United States, France, Israel and Germany in the coming years.
Modi will be in France next month, where it is expected to sign agreements worth approximately $ 10 billion for Rafale combat aircraft and scorpian class submarines, according to the reports of the Indian media.
‘It’s not easy to change’
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has also promised at least $ 100 billion in new national military hardware contracts by 2033 to stimulate local weapons production.
“India has traditionally been an importer for decades and only changed to emphasize indigenous manufacturing … in the last decade,” said strategic affairs analyst Nitin Gokhale AFP.
“It is not easy to change, not everything can be manufactured or produced here,” he said, saying that the country lacked the ability to manufacture “high -end technology.”
But their efforts have still seen numerous impressive milestones.
This decade, India opened a new expansive helicopter factory, launched its first home aircraft carrier and performed a successful long -range hypersonic missile test.
That in turn has fostered a growing weapons export market that saw sales last year for a value of $ 2.63 billion, remains a small amount compared to established players, but an increase of 30 times in a decade .
India is expected in the coming weeks to announce a historical agreement to supply the military of supersonic cruise missiles in an agreement worth almost $ 450 million.
The Government aims to triple this figure by 2029, with a large part of the $ 75 billion that spent in defense last year destined to boost local production.
‘Propagation risks’
India has deepened defense cooperation with Western countries in recent years, even in the widespread Quad alliance with the United States, Japan and Australia.
This reorientation has helped India sign several agreements to import and co -produce military drones, naval ships, combat aircraft and other hardware with suppliers from Western countries.
He has also led to a precipitated fall in the weapons of India of the old ally of Russia, which supplied 76pc of its military imports in 2009-13 but only 36pc in 2019-23, according to Sipri data.
However, New Delhi has tried to maintain the delicate balance between the historically warm ties of India with Moscow while courting the closest associations with Western nations.
The Modi government has resisted the pressure of Washington and elsewhere to explicitly condemn the invasion of Ukraine in Ukraine in 2022 of Russia, instead of urging both parties to the negotiating table.
Gokhale said India was not in a position to abandon its relationship with Russia, which still plays an important role as an advanced armament supplier, including cruise missiles and nuclear underwater technology.
“India has certainly extended its risks to obtain from other countries,” he said. “But Russia is still a very important and reliable couple.”