India plans to diversify its arms sources while prioritizing indigenously produced artillery
According to recent reports, a senior US Pentagon official has said that the US and India will cooperate in developing drones as a way to counter China. This official further added that India will build these aircraft and export them to countries in the region.
It is noteworthy that we currently import a large part of our defense weapons from Russia. With the geopolitical winds swirling indiscriminately, it is evident that India plans to diversify its sources of arms while pushing hard for indigenous production of defense equipment.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Eli Ratner told the media that they want to support India on both fronts. “In practice, this means that we will work closely with India to co-produce and co-develop capabilities that will support India’s own defense modernization goals,” Ratner said.
Referring to the possibility of developing aircraft-launched drones and anti-drone defense systems, Ratner added: “We are having good conversations with our colleagues in the Indian government at the highest level about our respective priorities in this regard and we hope to have more for announcing this front too long ago.’
After years of frosty relations, the two countries have recently grown closer thanks to China’s aggression under the leadership of Jinping. Notably, India became a “major defense partner” of the US in 2016, after which various agreements were signed to strengthen military cooperation and facilitate easy transfers of premium weapons.
