Defenсe News
Top stories about the Indian Army, its partners & rivals in the region and the international arena.

Armenia Seeks to Expand Defence Links With India

Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Mnatsakan Safaryan, emphasized Armenia's firm commitment to enhancing defense cooperation with India in the aftermath of the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Sputnik
Armenia is deepening its ties with India, including defence cooperation, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan said after the conflict with Azerbaijan.

"Armenia is expanding its defence cooperation and this is a good opportunity to deepen Armenian-Indian relations in this field," Safaryan told Indian media.

The Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister expressed that the nation has assigned a defense attaché to its embassy in New Delhi with the purpose of exploring the potential for enhanced collaboration.

India sold Armenia the Swathi weapon-locating radar system in 2020. This was followed by a bilateral agreement under which New Delhi would supply Yerevan with ammunition, Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers and anti-tank ammunition.

According to media reports, Kalyani Strategic Systems, a subsidiary of Bharat Forge, emerged victorious in November 2022 by securing a $155 million contract for the delivery of artillery guns to Armenia.
In March of this year, Major General Edward Asryan, the military commander of Armenia, met with General Anil Chauhan, the Chief of Staff of the Indian Defence Department, during his visit to India.
Furthermore, Safaryan commended India for condemning Azerbaijan's "aggression" against Armenia and expressed support for India taking a more prominent role in the region.

The Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister also stressed that Armenia would like to see more trade and economic relations with India, as well as other forms of Indian presence in Armenia and throughout our region.

With India's rapid growth, Safaryan added, "it will contribute to the overall stability of our region, as well as to India's strategy of greater engagement in its neighbourhood".

India and the Philippines signed a $375 million deal in January 2022 for the sale of three batteries of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system, which India and Russia jointly developed, according to media reports.

Myanmar (50%), Sri Lanka (25%) and Armenia (11%) were the top three countries to receive Indian arms supplies in 2020-2021, according to ORF's research paper on The State of Indias Public Sector Defence Industry.

African countries are also on the client list, with Mauritius accounting for 6.6 per cent of India's arms exports between 2017 and 2021, followed by Mozambique (5 per cent) and Seychelles (2.3 per cent), according to a working paper published by the Export-Import Bank of India in October 2022.

India is now better equipped to undertake indigenous arms production, and many countries are seeking defence cooperation. With an ever-increasing defence budget, India is the fourth largest military spender in the world, surpassing several advanced arms-producing nations such as the UK, France, Germany and others, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's 2022 report.
Defenсe News
Nigeria to Strengthen Defence Cooperation with India
Discuss