Defence diplomacy

Story hook

It is 5 July 2023, Paris. President Emmanuel Macron welcomes PM Narendra Modi as the guest of honour at Bastille Day 14 July. Indian Air Force Su-30 MKIs + C-17 + IL-78 refueller roar over the Champs-Élysées, flanked by Rafales. 241 Indian armed forces personnel march down the most-watched military parade in the world. Macron announces: 26 Rafale-Marine fighter jets for the Indian Navy + 3 Scorpène-class submarines + tech transfer from DRDO-led shipbuilding.

Two months earlier, 22-23 June 2023, Washington. Modi's state visit. The GE F414 jet engine deal: 11 turbofan engines for India's Tejas Mk-2 with 80% technology transfer by HAL — the highest tech-transfer ever authorised by the US Department of State for an Indian fighter. MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones — 31 units, $3.5 billion. Predator drones in Indian colours over the Indian Ocean for the first time. iCET (initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies) anchors it all.

Cut to 9 August 2024, Sukhoi airfield, Russia. India quietly takes delivery of the 5th and final S-400 Triumf squadron. Russia's premier surface-to-air defence system. The CAATSA sanctions the US threatened in 2018 never materialised — because by 2024, Washington needs India in the Indo-Pacific more than it wants to punish a Russian arms purchase.

Defence exports: ₹21,083 crore ($2.5 bn) in FY24 — up 30-fold from FY15 (₹686 crore). BrahMos to Philippines (₹2,966 crore, first export Apr 2024 delivery). Akash air- defence in talks with Brazil, Armenia, Egypt. Pinaka MLRS to Armenia. Tejas to Argentina + Egypt + Malaysia + Australia under discussion.

This is India's defence diplomacy 2024 — buyer, seller, co-developer, partner, all at once. Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 is the rulebook; **iCET + COMCASA + LEMOA

• BECA** with US, CEPA with UAE, 2+2 dialogues with US, Japan, Australia, Russia anchor the architecture.

Why this matters for UPSC

Prelims: DAP 2020 (Sept 2020, replaced DPP 2016); Strategic Partnership Model; Buy/Make Indian categories; Defence Industrial Corridors (Tamil Nadu + Uttar Pradesh, 2018); IDDM (Indigenously Designed Developed Manufactured); SRIJAN; 2+2 dialogues; LEMOA (2016), COMCASA (2018), BECA (2020); joint exercises (Yudh Abhyas, Garuda, Vajra Prahar, Malabar, Indra, Khanjar, Tarkash).

Mains GS-II/III: Defence indigenisation + Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence; arms-export strategy; tech-transfer; Strategic Partnership Model implementation; CAATSA balancing; Make in India in defence; PLI for drones + aerospace; Yatharth + Surya doctrine debate.

Interview: Should India have walked away from S-400? What is the right ratio of imports vs exports? Can Tejas compete with F-16 + Gripen + JF-17? Why does India still import ~30% of its defence needs?