NEW DELHI - Uncertainties arising from the Ukraine war have made it even more urgent for India to reduce its reliance on Russia for arms purchases and to work towards domestic defence manufacturing in the long term. Read more at straitstimes.com.
NEW DELHI - Uncertainties arising from the Ukraine war have made it even more urgent for India to reduce its reliance on Russia for arms purchases and to work towards domestic defence manufacturing in the long term.
The uncertainties over how Russia's defence manufacturing sector will cope with the continuous demand for weapons to fight the war and Western sanctions - imposed after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February - remain a concern for India. Analysts said there is increased urgency for India to step up defence diversification in the short and medium term and indigenisation in the long term.
The road ahead includes sorting out issues such as land acquisition, boosting production of critical technologies, attracting foreign defence companies to manufacture in India and skilling defence personnel, the experts noted. Still, even before the Ukraine war, the Indian government had been putting in enabling policies to push manufacturing, such as increasing foreign investment in defence from 49 per cent between 2012 and 2016 to 74 per cent between 2017 and 2021, apart from trying to get foreign defence firms to manufacture in India.
In contrast, India's arms imports from France increased more than tenfold, making it India's second largest arms supplier in 2017-2021, the institute noted.New Delhi has walked a fine balance refusing to side with the West against Russia and abstaining from votes in the United Nations Security Council condemning the invasion of Ukraine."Russia is in dire need of money and only when you export, you get money. It is in Russian interest ," noted Mr Asthana.