New Delhi placed, Thursday, March 16, an order for military equipment for an amount of 8 billion euros. Missiles, helicopters, cannons and electronic defense systems… Deciphering India’s military strategy.
from our correspondent in Bangalore,
On Monday March 13, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) published its annual report on armaments. While India placed a colossal order of military equipment this week, we learned in the Sipri report that the country is the world’s largest importer of weapons.
THE ” Make in India » trolling
India faces two conflicting imperatives. On the one hand, increasing its military capabilities rapidly under threat from China at its borders and in the Indo-Pacific zone and facing Pakistan. On the other hand, succeeding in producing weapons on its soil rather than importing them, within the framework of the great program of “self-sufficient India” brandished by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. But it is clear that the ” Make in India does not really manage to progress in the military field.
Siemon Wezeman of the Stockholm Institute explains: Since the end of the Cold War, India has led the world in arms imports. It cannot cope with the technical problems of production on its soil. The state arms industry is slow and bureaucratic. The BrahMos missile, recently ordered, is for example developed in Russia. In fact, as India is too slow to conceive its technologies, the weapons are sometimes manufactured on its soil but most of the time under foreign licence. »
During the period 2018-22, India accounted for 11% of all arms imports in the world, ahead of Saudi Arabia (9.6%).
Russia, first partner
Russia, since the days of the Soviet Union, has been a very important ally and military supplier to New Delhi. The war in Ukraine is not without consequences for India for its arms supply and its geopolitical positioning: India has faced delivery delays since Russia became involved in the war; but on the other hand, it also wants to take advantage of the new geopolitical situation to forge new commercial relations with Moscow.
New trade relations for cheap oil of course, but that goes further. Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar assured Russia that he would allow sanctions to be circumvented and pay in rupees-roubles.
Siemon Wezeman believes that profound change will take time. ” It is too early to know whether the war will reduce India’s dependence on Russia, he continues. When the United States asks not to buy from the Russians, India replies that it cannot be decreed. A large part of its armament is Russian and depends on specific spare parts. What is clear is that India is seeking to diversify its imports. And France is now its second supplier. »
According to the Sipri report, Russia accounts for 45% of India’s military purchases, followed by France with 29% and the United States with 11%. Rather stable figures compared to the previous year.
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