India, Belgium turn defence ties into government pact, eye co-production of tanks, drones, rockets

India and Belgium have formalised their defence engagements from a largely private sector driven partnership to an institutionalised government-government defence relationship. On Thursday (September 3), the two sides signed a Letter of Intent that establishes a framework for regular exchanges, staff talks, military education and training, research cooperation and defence-industrial partnerships.The agreement was among the principal government level outcomes of the Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s official visit to India. Accompanied by Belgium’s Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade, Theo Francken, the Belgian delegation held several engagements with the Indian leadership in New Delhi. PM De Wever met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the two sides discussed ways to further strengthen ties across various sectors like trade, investment, energy and security.Identifying defence as a “key pillar” of the India-Belgium partnership, Modi said the agreements “will open up new opportunities for defence co-development and co-production.”Throughout the day, India and Belgium held multiple defence related engagements across the governmental and industrial tracks. While the Prime Ministers engaged at their level, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Francken reviewed the full spectrum of defence and industrial cooperation during their bilateral meeting in New Delhi.Also present at the bilateral defence meeting were Gen Dhiraj Seth, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, Chief of Army Staff, Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM, Vice Chief of Air Staff, Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, PVSM, AVSM, NM, Vice Chief of Naval Staff.The two sides agreed to expand engagement through a defence cooperation dialogue, high-level visits, training and capacity building.Francken also met Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth at the the India–Belgium Defence CEOs’ Roundtable and B2B Meetings organised by Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, the Embassy of Belgium in India and Belgian Security and Defence Industry (BSDI).“We opened a new chapter in our bilateral relations today,” Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken told CNBC-TV18 after concluding his engagements at the event. He said that India and Belgium had begun seeing momentum since the visit of the economic delegation from Belgium led by HRH Princess Astrid of Belgium and it was finally time to put the pen to paper and structure the relationship.“There were a lot of talks. Now, we have to do the deeds and sign the contracts,” he said, describing the September 3 engagements as “a good day for Indian and Belgian businesses”.On defence, he said the two countries were working across areas ranging from the Zorawar light tank and mine-countermeasure vessels to autonomous systems, drones, sensors, optics and rockets.“We want to close deals, we want to create good defence platforms, good defence equipment and share good technology,” he said, highlighting that it was the need of the hour given the ongoing geopolitical situation.“I had the honour to attend the bilateral meeting between our two prime ministers and the situation is really bad,”he said. “We need to strengthen because its strange times and geopolitical difficult times. (sic) Strength is of paramount importance.”“We need new technology if we want to protect our people and our countries,” he told CNBC-TV18. “We need to invest in new technologies to stay safe and peaceful.” Also read: India aims to wrap up Chile trade deal by October, critical minerals remain key sticking point: Sources Leveraging strengthsThe government level framework addresses a gap that had existed despite the longstanding presence of Belgian defence companies in India, Belgian Ambassador to India Didier Vanderhasselt said at the industry discussion forum. He pointed out that private Belgian defence companies had contributed to Indian projects for decades, but “despite their strategic nature” these projects had not been mirrored by an institutional relationship between the two governments.“One of our goals over the last two years was to address this gap,” he said, adding that the industry roundtable demonstrated both the potential and the need for a government to government umbrella. “Among all the areas in which bilateral relations are expanding, defence is one with the strongest momentum,” he said.Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth said that India and Belgium should leverage their respective strengths Belgium’s technological expertise and India’s manufacturing scale for co-development & co-production of niche products towards shared security.“Dedicated Defence Industrial Corridors in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, with further corridors planned in Maharashtra, Assam and other regions, offer competitive incentives and ecosystem support for foreign original equipment manufacturers and partners,” he said.Along with defence production, Seth said platforms such as iDEX and ADITI could provide avenues for bilateral research and industrialisation involving start-ups and MSMEs. Potential areas include artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, military communications, anti-drone systems and adaptive camouflage.“Strategic autonomy is best secured through credible, mutually beneficial international collaboration,” he said.The Indian Ambassador to Belgium Pranay Kumar Verma was also present at the engagement and said that as Belgium moves to strengthen defence capabilities, India offers a “strong and competitive manufacturing base”, a large pool of skilled talent and a “robust innovation and startup ecosystem.”“We invite Belgian companies to leverage these strengths and take advantage of our vision of Make in India, Make for the World,” he said. Defence, diplomacy and securityDefence collaboration between the two countries will be supported by a stronger diplomatic presence. During the visit, India announced its decision to appoint a resident Defence Attaché at its embassy in Brussels in the near future, reciprocating Belgium’s appointment of a Defence Attaché in New Delhi in 2025.A series of military and institutional exchanges were also announced. Belgian frigate Leopold I is expected to visit India from November 5 to 8, 2026. The College of Defence Management in Secunderabad is due to undertake a study tour to Belgium in October, while the Belgian Defence College intends to organise its 2027 World Study Trip in India.Additionally, the two countries also agreed to boost cooperation on security with an MoU between the Central Bureau of Investigation of India and the Federal Police of Belgium on cooperation in combating transnational organized crime, cybercrime, and related matters. Also read: Weaker rupee isn’t enough to fix India’s export gap, HSBC explains From Tokyo to Delhi via BrusselsWhile defence discussions remained the primary focus of conversation, an exchange between Francken and Singh caught everyone’s attention.Just before arriving in New Delhi, Francken visited Japan, where he met the Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi. Koizumi was in India just days ago and held high level engagements in New Delhi, including meeting Singh. During his visit, India and Japan announced a host of ways to deepen collaboration including on defence coproduction. As Francken came to Delhi, Koizumi sent a special message for his Indian counterpart which the Belgian minister relayed during his bilateral interaction with Singh.“I am coming from Japan, and I have to say, the Minister of Defence of Japan was here last week. He asked me to give you all his warm greetings. He sent me a message this morning: “Don’t forget to give my warm greetings to you.” So please accept his greetings,” he said.The exchange caught everyone’s attention, including the Japanese Defence Minister it seems. Quoting a social media post by the Indian Defence Minister on X, Koizumi responded to the exchange calling it a reflection of the “rapport between ministers.”“When I met Belgium’s Minister Theo Francken in Japan, I asked him to convey my warm regards to Minister Singh during his visit to India. Minister Singh’s account subsequently shared the portion in which I was mentioned. This, too, is a result of the rapport between ministers. Thank you, Minister Francken and Minister Rajnath Singh!,” he said on X. (Translated from Japanese)The Indian Defence Minister further responded to the post saying the message was “well received, and duly reciprocated.”“Thank you for the warm regards, my friend @shinjirokoiz! The message was well received, and duly reciprocated during Minister @FranckenTheo’s highly productive visit to India. Looking forward to further strengthening our deep-rooted partnership during my next visit to Japan!,” he said on X.

Source link