The proposed joint production deal between New Delhi and Washington for Stryker Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) in the South Asian sovereign state makes a mockery of the Indian government's flagship "Make in India" initiative, a military veteran has said.
"The Stryker co-production deal between India and the US defies logic and makes a mockery of the Make-in-India paradigm," former Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Vijainder K Thakur told Sputnik India on Friday.
Thakur's remarks came only days after Indian Army Chief, General Manoj Pandey, was shown a detailed presentation about the defense platform during his visit to the US Army's 1 Corps headquarters in the American capital.
Stryker AVF Pact: Origins
The Stryker deal has been in the works since June last year when US President Joe Biden hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a state dinner.
However, it gained momentum after the US reportedly offered to manufacture the Stryker AVF's air defense system in India, and that too armed with the most latest technology for the Asian country.
Designed and developed by the US defense major General Dynamics Land Systems, the Stryker is a Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP), that has been a workhorse of the American forces for decades.
Setback For India's Domestic Industry
But Thakur believes that local manufacture of the Stryker will create jobs but will not promote domestic capability to design and develop AFVs in India.
In addition to that, what's ironic is that in the last decade, two Indian conglomerates - Tata Motors and Mahindra - tied up to develop such a vehicle under the supervision of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as per the specifications laid out by the Indian Army.
In this light, the defense expert suggested that it was difficult to understand the imperative for procuring the Stryker now when India has already developed an equivalent platform locally.
Project to Compromise Indian Security
"It appears that the Stryker project is being promoted over the indigenously developed WhAP by hyping the urgency of the Chinese threat. It is also possible that co-production of Stryker in India may be aimed at placating the US over India's continued close trade relations with Russia and thus avoiding US sanctions," Thakur underlined.
Whatever be the imperatives, knowing the proclivity of the US to whimsically impose sanctions, the Stryker co-production appears to compromise Indian security, rather than enhance it, he reckoned.