Defence Diplomacy

Defence Cooperation has been an important component of India’s overall diplomacy. At present, India has defence cooperation agreements of one kind or the other with over 53 countries.

• With Southeast Asia, India has been enjoying the historical legacy of the strong influence of the Indus civilization and has been strengthening its linkages through strategic engagement, economic liberalization and Free Trade Agreement with the ASEAN countries.
• After 1992, India formulated its defence diplomacy in consonance with the ‘Look East’ policy to safeguard its eastern seaboard and secure its strategic interests in the Indian Ocean region.
• Indian Armed forces has also been a significant contributor to UN Peacekeeping efforts since independence. In the emerging geopolitical environment, defence cooperation is increasingly becoming a dynamic tool for achieving India’s overall diplomatic objectives.
• Series of Military, Naval and Air Force exercises with developed and under developing countries is also an important step of India to consolidate its position against any future unpredictable threat to its security. Participation in international level joint defence exercises is an indication of the highest level of trust and confidence between the member nations of international organizations.
• India, as it banks on enlightened diplomacy to attain national objectives, the optimum utilisation of military diplomacy by the nation will surely add to India’s image in the comity of nations and, more importantly, the fulfillment of national aspirations.

Issues in India’s Defence Modernisation

• India faces a whole range of complex challenges in its defence modernization aspirations, which are aimed at containing the threats that it perceives to be having severe implications for its national security.
• Looking into the current capacities of India’s defence industry, it is not hard to say that many observers remain dismissive of the same and have proposed a number of reforms aimed at bolstering India’s defence production capabilities thereby achieving self-reliance in building such capabilities, and streamlining India’s defence procurement procedures for lesser procedural delays in acquiring advanced weapons system.
• As India is one of the largest importers of arms & ammunitions the in the world, its over-dependency over other countries for sophisticated weapons system for the services of the armed forces is likely to negatively affect India’s aspirations of becoming a great power as it is widely believed that great powers are supposed to have great arms industries.
• The challenges that plagues India’s defence industry today in terms of producing and procuring advanced weapons system to fulfill the requirements of the services of the armed forces are immense, which needs critical examination.