(Dan Tri) – Analysts said that India’s recent increase in arms sales to a number of Southeast Asian countries shows New Delhi’s ambitions in the global arms industry.
Indian missiles in a military parade (Illustration photo: AFP).
Analysts say India’s arms sales to Southeast Asian countries, especially the Philippines and Indonesia, have increased sharply recently.
Last month, India-based defense company BrahMos Aerospace said it was discussing a hypersonic cruise missile deal worth $200 million with Jakarta.
BrahMos is an Indian-Russian joint venture, specializing in the production of multi-platform cruise missiles at supersonic speeds with extremely high precision.
Long eyeing the Southeast Asian market, the company won its first foreign contract in 2022 with the sale of anti-ship missiles worth $375 million to the Philippines.
These moves are part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition to boost defense exports from $1.8 billion in 2022 to $5 billion in the next two years.
Expert Yogesh Joshi at the Institute of South Asian Studies of the National University of Singapore said that reality shows that India wants to emerge as a major arms supplier, especially exporting high-end and low-cost weapons.
`It will also help create an economy of scale for domestic consumption. Last year, the Indian Ministry of Defense proposed to buy equipment worth nearly $1 billion from domestic manufacturers,` the expert said.
Also according to Mr. Joshi, India’s sale of BrahMos missiles to Southeast Asian countries is also a way to balance rival China.
This expert also commented that the more China focuses on the disputed East Sea issue, the less able it will be to show off its power in the Indian Ocean, so India will take advantage of this opportunity to `some
Recent geopolitical events involving Russia, the world’s major arms producer, could also affect New Delhi’s regional ambitions.
`In Southeast Asia, the gap created by Russian arms sales will be filled by Korean, European and American defense companies,` he said.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia’s share of global arms exports has decreased from 22% in 2013-2017 to 16% from 2018-2022.
Meanwhile, South Korea has risen to become the 8th largest arms exporter in the world in 2021, accounting for 2.8% of the global export market share over the past 5 years.
Earlier this year, Korea Aerospace Industries, South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer, signed a $920 million deal to export 18 FA-50 light attack aircraft to Malaysia.
`Act East` Policy
Mr. Akash Sahu, an Indo-Pacific geopolitical analyst and Southeast Asia researcher, said India’s increasing focus on Southeast Asia, including defense, is part of its policy.
According to this expert, while the war in Ukraine has affected Russia’s weapons production capacity, India’s efforts to export defense products show that New Delhi is not solely dependent on Moscow for its positive motivation.
India is also trying to reduce its dependence on imported weapons, having recently approved additional defense procurement packages to strengthen the country’s military and new orders from domestic defense companies.
Professor Pankaj Jha studies strategy at O.P. Global University.
Mr. Jha also said that India is also exploring the possibility of supplying important weapons systems, as well as light combat helicopters and torpedoes.
`India cannot act as a substitute for Russia, but it has developed its own acumen in the manufacturing strategy of products such as radar, short-range missiles and communication equipment,` Jha said.
Senior advisor for South Asia at the US Institute of Peace Daniel Markey said that BrahMos systems produced by India are especially attractive not only because of their capacity but also their `reasonable price`.
`I can’t think of another major system made in India with the same appeal,` Mr. Markey said, adding that Indian officials have indicated they want to become
According to the Indian Ministry of Defense, manufacturing the latest and most advanced variant of the BrahMos cruise missile in India costs about $4.85 million each, while hypersonic missiles produced elsewhere can cost about $4.85 million each.
Efforts to promote independence in the defense industry have been implemented in the context that for decades, India has been one of the world’s largest arms importers.
The Times of India newspaper quoted a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) saying that India ranked 4th in the Indo-Pacific region in terms of self-reliance in weapons production.