India seeks its place in the global sun and strengthens ties with Armenia, the Philippines, Poland and Africa
In response to its evolving geostrategic challenges, India will deploy defense attachés to Armenia, the Philippines and Poland for the first time . India will also remove military personnel posted at the Embassy in Moscow and the High Commission in London, to be reassigned to other countries, all to begin having a military and strategic posture globally.
Some of the other countries where defense attachés will be sent are on the African continent, consistent with this policy of incremental influence.
India has established itself as the flag bearer of the global South, i.e. developing nations . In recent years, India has been waging a diplomatic blitzkrieg with African countries. New Delhi has sought to forge closer military ties with African countries, while China is increasing its influence on the continent.
In 2022, India stepped forward as an arms supplier to Armenia, which is embroiled in a long conflict with Azerbaijan. The first batch of weapons was delivered last year via Iran. Armenia, a small landlocked nation located in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia, has emerged as a strategic partner for India.
In 2022, when India signed the deal to supply PINAKA multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRL), anti-tank ammunition and ammunition worth $250 million to Armenia , it was seen as New Delhi taking a stand in the conflict. This was PINAKA's first Indian export. Armenia opted for the PINAKA MBRLs, considered on par with the American HIMARs, due to their fire and fire capability.
Pinaka MLRS
Armenia has also contracted with Hyderabad-based Zen Technologies for ($41.5 million) for the order of an anti-drone system that includes training solutions and an anti-drone system.
In the latest acquisition, Armenia has reportedly ordered the Advanced Towed Artillery System (ATAGS) from India. These guns are considered the best in their category and can be used at high altitudes.
Sending an Indian military officer to the country was long overdue. A total of 16 defense personnel from the Indian Army, Navy and Indian Air Force will take up their new positions shortly. The Indian government is obtaining the new positions by streamlining the presence of military officials in embassies in other countries, such as Moscow and London.
A redistribution that follows new priorities
Some military attachés posted in these two countries are set to be deployed elsewhere, as part of the rationalization process that has taken into account various aspects of New Delhi's foreign policy priorities and optimal use of manpower.
The Philippines will soon become the first country, other than India, to have a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in its arsenal. The archipelagic country has developed closer military ties with India to counter their common adversary, an aggressive China.
BrahMos cruise missile
India's decision to appoint a defense attaché to Poland, a member of the European Union, is also seen as significant. It reflects the desire to expand two-way defense ties. Last year, the European Union sent a military attaché to its mission in India for the first time.
Courting Africa
India has a long-standing cooperation with African countries and provides training to military personnel of many African countries.
Additionally, India contributes to peacekeeping troops in Africa. Mutual trust between India and African countries facilitates the sale of arms by India and New Delhi would like to conquer this market.
India also has a significant pricing advantage over Western defense firms, and New Delhi makes the most of it. Making no secret of its ambition to become a major defense exporter, India has asked its Defense Attaches posted abroad to play a "central role" in achieving the $5 billion defense export target by 2025.
Under the programme, India is targeting 85 countries.
Now, New Delhi will send new defense personnel to African countries such as Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique and Djibouti. The crucial decision aligns with the central government's priority to expand its strategic engagement with other countries.
The Government of India is aggressively pursuing self-sufficiency in defense production. While the Indian military is encouraged to support “ Made-in-India” products, the country is targeting foreign markets for its military hardware.
So, it was no surprise that India brought together officials from 31 African countries in early 2023 to showcase its domestically made helicopters, drones and artillery guns.
The gathering preceded nine days of multilateral maritime exercises and the Africa-India field exercise (AFINDEX-2023), in which soldiers from 23 African countries participated, including delegates from Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa. The best of Indian industry was demonstrated here
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The article India seeks its place in the global sun and strengthens ties with Armenia, Philippines, Poland and Africa comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/lindia-cerca-il-suo-posto-al-sole-globale-e-rafforza-i-legami-con-armenia-filippine-polonia-e-africa/ on Fri, 12 Apr 2024 20:49:46 +0000.