NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bid to transform India into a global factory floor has produced billions of dollars of low-cost iPhones and pharmaceuticals. Now he hopes to add missiles, helicopters and battleships to the shopping carts of foreign governments.
The world’s largest importer of weapons after Ukraine is expanding the ability of the state-owned Export-Import Bank (EXIM) to offer long-term, low-cost loans to clients, including those whose political or credit risk profiles may limit their access to conventional financing, according to two Indian officials and three industry sources.
New Delhi will also sharply increase the number of defense attachés in its foreign missions as part of a new program that will see the government directly negotiate some arms deals, four Indian officials said. India is particularly targeting governments which have long relied on Russia for arms, two of the people said.
India’s plans, which were detailed to Reuters by 15 people and have not been previously reported, mark an unprecedented effort by the government to inject itself into the recruitment and financing of foreign buyers as the world is rearming and longstanding geopolitical relationships are being recast.
Indian bureaucrats have long focused more on buying fighter aircraft from Russia’s Sukhoi and howitzers from the United States to ward off China and Pakistan, Delhi’s two nuclear-armed neighbors. While India has long had a small-arms production sector, its private firms have only recently started to make higher-end munitions and equipment.
The Indian defense and external affairs ministries, as well as Modi’s office, did not respond to requests for comment. EXIM declined to comment.
“India is marching towards achieving the target of increasing defence exports,” defense minister Rajnath Singh wrote on X this month.
One turning point was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to an Indian official tasked with growing arms exports. Like most of the people interviewed by Reuters for this story, the official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive government matters.
Spare Western arsenals were shipped to Kyiv while Russia’s factories churned out munitions almost exclusively for its war effort. That left other nations that had historically relied on Washington and Moscow – the world’s two largest arms exporters – scrambling for alternatives.
With its history of buying and absorbing arms technology from both the West and Russia, Delhi started to get more inquiries, the official said.
In response to Reuters’ questions, Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport referred to previously issued statements that said it was in talks with India about jointly producing and promoting equipment to third-party states that are “friendly to Russia.”
The Pentagon had no comment.
India produced $14.8 billion of arms in 2023-2024 fiscal year, up 62% since 2020, government data show. Some Indian-made artillery shells were found on the frontline in Ukraine in support of Kyiv’s defense, Reuters previously reported.
Delhi has started brokering meetings between visiting delegations and domestic arms contractors, as well as demonstrating more sophisticated equipment like combat helicopters during military exercises, four officials said.
