India is sending military representatives, known as defence attachés, to several new countries, including some in Africa, Poland, Armenia, and the Philippines.
India Posts Defence Attaches to Several New Nations For 1st Time
India is sending military representatives, known as defence attachés, to several new countries, including some in Africa, Poland, Armenia, and the Philippines. This comes amid the dynamic situation faced by India in the Indo-Pacific, Red Sea-Indian Ocean and Eurasia.
India is increasing its military involvement in the African nation and wants to build stronger strategic relationship as China is becoming more active in the region. A defence attaché is a member of the armed forces serving at an embassy as a “representative of his/her country’s defence establishment abroad and in this capacity enjoys diplomatic status and immunity,” according to the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) piece.
Typically, defense attachés focus on bilateral military and defense relations. Some countries also appoint attachés to handle security issues like migration or matters concerning police and justice. Defence attachés play a role in fostering communication and collaboration between their home country’s armed forces and the military of the host nation.
India has begun sending defence attachés to several new countries while reportedly reducing military personnel at its missions in other nations. According to government sources around 15-16 new attaches from the Indian Navy, the IAF, and the Indian Army are being assigned to Poland, the Philippines, Armenia, as well as African countries like Tanzania, Mozambique, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Ivory Coast.
This shift follows a streamlining effort that involved reducing the number of military officials at other major missions in Russia, the United Kingdom, and France. The former Soviet republic of Armenia has also emerged as a major arms export’s destination, with deals already inked for Pinaka rockets, Akash missiles, ammunition and the like, a few of them coming even during its clash with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. “A defence attaché is especially being posted to Armenia for the first time,” the source said.
With an eye on China’s aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific, including the South China Sea, India has also been steadily stepping up military ties with ASEAN countries. This led to the $375 million contract for three anti-ship coastal batteries of the BrahMos missiles being inked with the Philippines.
India is also trying to export the single-engine Tejas fighter to countries like the Philippines, Nigeria, Argentina and Egypt. India’s bid to sell it to Malaysia, however, had failed last year with the Royal Malaysian Air Force picking South Korean supersonic fighter KAI FA-50 made by Korean Aerospace Industries.
