Defence News
Modi’s show of force aimed at China : British Media.
Narendra Modi used yesterday’s Republic Day parade to stage a diplomatic and military show of force aimed at China.
Foreign guests sitting with the prime minister to watch the array of military hardware, elaborate floats and human pyramids perched atop motorbikes, were carefully chosen to cement important alliances.
Mr Modi’s guests included the leaders of ten southeast Asian nations, in a clear attempt to curb the growing influence of China.
Days earlier, India tested a long-range ballistic missile, the Agni-5, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking most big Chinese cities.
The missile programme is one of the jewels in the crown of India’s domestic weapons manufacturing but the country has now been the world’s biggest importer of arms for five years.
Between 2012 and 2016, India accounted for 13 per cent of global arms imports; Mr Modi has since pledged £175 billion to overhaul the military’s ageing kit.
His much-vaunted “Make In India” programme, intended to bolster domestic weapons manufacturing, as China has done, is bogged down by red tape.
Russia remains India’s biggest arms supplier by far, a legacy of Cold War allegiances. The US has made a strong play for business in recent years, however, seeking to draw India closer as a bulwark against Beijing.
Last year Mr Modi and President Trump sealed a £1.4 billion deal for 22 Guardian drones.France and Israel have also emerged as key defence partners.
Notable by its absence among India’s arms suppliers is its former colonial overlord: British defence exports to the country have fallen dramatically, from £966 million in 2010 to only £34 million in 2015.
BAE Systems signed a £520 million deal for 145 howitzers in 2016 but on bigger orders Britain has been left in the shade, notably in 2012, when the Eurofighter Typhoon lost out to France’s Rafale jet in a £7 billion deal.
Mr Modi has been accused of treating defence sales as a personal fiefdom, used to underpin friendships with favoured world leaders while other critical needs are neglected.
An audit last year found that ammunition stocks were so depleted that India could wage war for only ten days.
In recent months British officials have indicated a shift towards selling UK expertise rather than weapons, notably in cybersecurity and defence, where Britain is a world leader and India lags far behind its regional rivals.
Not all India’s domestic weapon schemes have proved as successful as the nuclear missile programme.
The aircraft carrier scheme is plagued by glitches and its first nuclear submarine has been out of action for months after it almost sank when a hatch was left open.
