Image for representational purposes only.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

India has transitioned from being an arms importer and found a place in the list of top 25 arms exporter nations, the Economic Survey revealed on Monday.

Between 2015 and 2019, India held the distinction of being the world’s second-largest arms importer, but the narrative has changed now. Defence production has grown substantially in the country, from ₹74,054 crore in the financial year 2016-17 to ₹108,684 crore in 2022-23, boosting defence exports.

“The defence industry, including the private sector and Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), has made tremendous efforts to achieve the highest-ever defence exports,” the survey pointed out.

In charts: Key takeaways from Economic Survey 2023-24

In addition, there has been a rise in the number of export authorisations issued to the defence exporters, it added. “From 1,414 export authorisations in FY23, the number has increased to 1,507 in FY24.”

About 100 domestic companies are exporting a wide range of defence products and equipment such as the Dornier-228 aircraft, artillery guns, BrahMos missiles, Pinaka rockets and launchers, radars, simulators, and armoured vehicles, the survey noted.

Stating that the government has taken several policy initiatives over the past 10 years to boost defence exports, the survey said export procedures have been simplified and made industry-friendly, with end-to-end online export authorisation curtailing delays and facilitating ease of doing business.

“Further, the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives have helped the country by encouraging indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment, thereby reducing dependency on imports in the long run,” it added.

While defence exports have gone up, India continued to remain the world’s top arms importer in the period 2019-23, with imports going up by 4.7% compared with the period 2014-18, according to a report in March from the Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). India came back to the top slot in arms imports after briefly ceding space to Saudi Arabia in the past.

In the interim Budget presented in February, the total allocation for the Defence Ministry was ₹6.2 lakh crore, of which the capital allocation, for new procurements, was ₹1.72 lakh crore, 5.78% higher than the Budget Estimates of the previous year.

Note of caution

Earlier this week, sounding a note of caution on the push on Aatmanirbharta, or self-reliance, Vice-Chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Air Marshal A.P. Singh said that Aatmanirbharta cannot be at the cost of nation’s defence. “Nation’s defence comes first and foremost,” he said, while stating that when it comes to national defence, “there will be compulsions to deviate from their path” in case they do not get the things they need or the kind of systems and weaponry that is required to survive in today’s world.

Talking of the indigenous technological development under way he said the “rate at which we are getting our equipment at the moment is too low”.

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with increased indigenous content and improved performance, successfully test-fired from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Terming the BrahMos cruise missiles inducted by the Philippines as a “game changer”, which provides credible capabilities, Philippines envoy Josel F. Ignacio said India was a major source for the modernisation of the Philippines armed forces which was under way. “There is a renaissance in the relationship between India and the Philippines and they are rediscovering each other,” Mr. Ignacio said on Monday. They were keen on concluding the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), under negotiation, he said.

“It [the deal] is a great milestone for both countries. BrahMos is a game changer for the Philippines in that it confers credible defence and deterrent capabilities. For India, the significance is it is the first overseas export of the BrahMos and it is an affirmation of India’s rising capabilities and of its own indigenous defence industry. In a way, it expands India’s footprint overseas,” Mr. Ignacio said, speaking at the Observer Research Foundation.

In January 2022, the Philippines concluded a $375 million deal with India for three batteries of shore-based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, becoming the first export customer for the joint venture missile between India and Russia. The first batch of missiles was delivered this April.

Defence is one the most visible areas seeing a renaissance and catching widespread interest on both sides, the envoy noted, giving an overview of the bilateral relationship. Elaborating, he said, the cooperation was underpinned by a MoU on defence cooperation signed in 2006 and this was reinforced in 2017 by a MoU between the defence ministries on defence industry and logistics cooperation.

New dimension

“This opened a new dimension in the cooperation because this opened up equipment transfers and purchases that we are seeing now,” the envoy said. This MoU is further backed by an implementing arrangement concerning defence material and equipment that facilitates government-to-government procurement.

“The Philippines over the past few years has seen India as one of the major sources of modernisation of the armed forces,” Mr. Ignacio said. The Philippines armed forces are currently in phase-3, termed Horizin-3, modernisation and under this, he said, they were looking at ships, aircraft, radars and items that help boost their Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), defend entitlements and secure their Exclusive Economic Zone.

Explained | The BrahMos deal and India’s defence exports

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between the two countries and the two sides are working on some high-profile visits to mark the occasion.

To a question on the India-China stand-off in eastern Ladakh that has been going on for the last four years, Mr. Ignacio said they were closely following the developments there, the recent military-level talks to de-escalate for withdrawal from certain parts. “In the end, in any part of the world observing what happens provides valuable lessons… The ultimate goal for any country is to resolve any dispute in a peaceful way, in a way that is in accordance with the law,” the envoy said. Both countries were watching each other’s own difficulties in the territorial sphere to draw lessons from them. “This certainly forms part of our own exchange of views with the Indian government to try to learn lessons and see how we can all profit towards a common goal,” he added.

The envoy said that in 2023 bilateral trade crossed the $3bn mark for the first time while the balance of trade was in India’s favour. India was among the top 15 trade partners for the Philippines in fiscal 2023. In this regard, he said, through the PTA under negotiation they hope to raise the trade and bring balance and diversification. “We want the PTA with India, we have similar negotiations with Europe,” he noted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated countrymen after India delivered the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines as part of the $375 million deal between the two sides signed in 2022.

Addressing a rally in Domah, PM Modi said, “Now we are also exporting BrahMos missiles. The first batch of this missile is going to the Philippines today. I congratulate all the countrymen on this.”

India delivered the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines on Friday, as part of the USD 375 million deal between the two sides signed in 2022.

The Indian Air Force sent its American origin C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft with the missiles to the Philippines to deliver the weapon system to the Philippines’ Marine Corps, according to defence sources.

The export of ground systems for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system along with the missiles started last month itself, they said.

The Philippines is taking delivery of the missile systems at a time when tensions between Manila and China have escalated owing to frequent clashes in the South China Sea. The three batteries of the BrahMos missile system would be deployed by the Philippines in their coastal areas to guard against any threat in the region.

The deal has been cleared with multiple approvals from partner nations in the programme.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, is said to be one of the most successful missile programs in the world. Acknowledged as the foremost and swiftest precision-guided weapon on a global scale, BRAHMOS has played a pivotal role in enhancing India’s deterrence capabilities.

The Indian Army has integrated multiple BrahMos regiments into its arsenal since 2007.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)