India reworks defence attache network abroad to focus on military exports

INdia has reworked its defence attache web overseas to ride military machine exports, focusing on countries potential to buy weapons and systems from India rather than those selling military hardware to it, officials aware of the matter said on Monday.The targeted reshuffle took place in phases and will help India boost its defence exports and meet targets, the officials said. India is seeking to double its defence exports to ₹50,000 crore by 2029-30 — the figure reached ₹23,682 crore in the financial year 2024-25, representing a 12% increase over the previous year.Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan discussed the reshuffle of the defence attaches during an interaction with the Parliamentary standing committee on defence, which tabled its latest report in the Lok Sabha last week.ALSO READ | India's FY26-27 IAF plan: Rafale, transport aircraft deals lined up“As far as the role of military diplomacy is concerned, it is a new thing and to play a role of an exporter, we have reshuffled our defence attaches. There were a large number of attaches in the countries (from) which (we) were importing equipment. They have been withdrawn and now have been distributed to those countries where defence equipment is likely to be exported,” Chauhan told the panel.This implies India is reducing its military diplomatic presence in countries such as Russia, France, Israel and the US, while increasing such visibility in regions with export potential including South-east Asia, Africa and Latin America. In 2021–2025, Russia was India’s top supplier of military hardware, accounting for 40% of the country’s arms imports, followed by France (29%) and Israel (15%).India sold military hardware to around 100 countries in 2024-25, with the private sector and defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs) contributing ₹15,233 crore and ₹8,389 crore to exports, respectively, according to official data. More than 100 local firms and DPSUs are exporting military hardware including missiles, artillery guns, rockets, armoured vehicles, offshore patrol vessels, personal protective gear, radars, surveillance systems, ammunition, components, and systems/sub-systems.ALSO READ | India world’s 2nd largest arms importer despite drop in goods: ReportThe light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1A), advanced light helicopter and light combat aircraft also hold export potential, the officials said.The defence attaches represent not only the DPSUs but the entire country including the private sector, the CDS told the committee, adding that clear instructions had been issued for them to represent everyone.The country is also tapping the export potential of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, the officials said. India and Indonesia are close to an agreement on the supply of the BrahMos missile system, though crucial elements such as the pricing and number of batteries to be supplied remain to be finalised. If the deal goes ahead, Indonesia will be only the second foreign customer for the BrahMos missile jointly developed by India and Russia. India signed a deal worth almost $375 million in January 2022 to equip the Philippine Marines with three batteries of the missiles.India is also positioning itself as a global shipbuilding hub and has called upon international partners to tap the potential of the country’s vibrant industry to co-develop next generation maritime capabilities, and create sustainable technologies and resilient supply chains.ALSO READ | India may join 6th-generation fighter jet consortiumSeveral policy reforms have been ushered in by the government in the past few years to boost the Indian defence industry, including simplification of the industrial licensing procedure, removal of parts and components from the license regime, and simplification of export authorisation.In all, 1,762 export authorisations were issued by the government in FY 2024-25 compared to 1,507 in the previous year, a growth of 16.92%, the data shows. The number of exporters also jumped 17.4% in this period.India’s arms imports fell 4% between 2016-20 and 2021-25, but the country remains the world’s second largest importer of military hardware, accounting for 8.2% of global weapon imports, according to a recent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report.