NEW DELHI: India on Thursday unveiled its first consolidated public blueprint for defence diplomacy, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh releasing the ‘RAKSHA’ framework, a 10-year roadmap aimed at expanding military partnerships, defence capacity building, indigenous manufacturing, arms exports and maritime security.
The framework rests on four pillars: strategic partnerships, capacity building, indigenous defence manufacturing and exports, and maritime security. The defence ministry said it “marks a shift in India’s strategic engagement”, linking national security objectives with greater international defence cooperation.
The document sets a “10-year roadmap to strengthen global security partnerships” and seeks to “position India as a key defence manufacturing hub”, as India looks to leverage its expanding domestic defence industry to build deeper strategic relationships and increase exports.
Defence exports reached an all-time high of Rs 38,424 crore last year, rising 62.66 per cent from Rs 23,622 crore in the previous financial year. Defence public sector undertakings accounted for 54.84 per cent of exports and private companies for 45.16 per cent. Exports by DPSUs rose 151 per cent year-on-year, while private-sector exports increased 14 per cent. India now exports defence equipment to more than 80 countries and has set a target of Rs 50,000 crore in annual defence exports by 2029.
The maritime-security pillar focuses on strengthening India’s role as a “Net Security Provider and First Responder” in the Indian Ocean Region. It builds on the Navy’s sustained operational presence in the region, including mission-based deployments, anti-piracy operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster-relief missions.
Capacity building, meanwhile, covers military training, exchanges, institutional cooperation and assistance to partner countries, particularly in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Army Chief Gen Dhiraj Seth, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, MEA Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon, Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal Tejinder Singh were among those present at the launch.