India has reworked its network of defense attaches abroad to push military exports, focusing on countries that are more likely to buy weapons and systems from India rather than those to which it sells military equipment, officials familiar with the matter said on Monday.
The targeted reshuffle has been done in phases and will help India boost its defense exports and achieve the goals, officials said. India seeks to double its defense exports $50,000 Crores by 2029-30 – This number has been reached $23,682 crore in FY 2024-25, which represents an increase of 12% over the previous year.
Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chouhan discussed the reshuffle of military attachés during an interaction with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, which submitted its latest report to the Lok Sabha last week.
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“As far as the role of military diplomacy is concerned, it is something new, and in order to play the role of exporter, we have modified our military attachés. There were a large number of attachés in countries (from which) we were importing equipment. They have been withdrawn and now they have been distributed to those countries where defense equipment is likely to be exported,” Chouhan told the committee.
This means that India is reducing its diplomatic-military presence in countries such as Russia, France, Israel and the United States, while increasing this visibility in regions with export potential including Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America. In 2021-25, Russia was India’s largest supplier of military equipment, accounting for 40% of the country’s arms imports, followed by France (29%) and Israel (15%).
India sold military equipment to about 100 countries in 2024-25, with the private sector and Defense Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) contributing. $15,233 Crores $8,389 crore in exports respectively, according to official data. More than 100 local enterprises and DPSUs export military equipment including rockets, cannons, missiles, armored vehicles, offshore patrol vessels, personal protective equipment, radars, surveillance systems, ammunition, components and systems/subsystems.
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Light combat aircraft (LCA Mk-1A), advanced light helicopters and light combat aircraft also have export potential, officials said.
The Defense and Security Department told the committee that the military attaches represent not only the defense and security units, but the entire country, including the private sector, adding that clear instructions have been issued to them to represent everyone.
The country is also tapping the export potential of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, officials said. India and Indonesia are close to reaching an agreement on the supply of the BrahMos missile system, although crucial elements such as pricing and the number of batteries to be supplied are yet to be finalized. If the deal goes ahead, Indonesia will be the second foreign customer for the BrahMos missile jointly developed by India and Russia. India signed a deal worth approximately $375 million in January 2022 to supply the Philippine Marines with three batteries of missiles.
India is also positioning itself as a global shipbuilding hub and has called on international partners to tap into the country’s vibrant industry potential to co-develop next generation maritime capabilities and create sustainable technologies and resilient supply chains.
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The government has introduced several policy reforms in the past few years to strengthen the Indian defense industry, including simplifying industrial licensing procedures, removing parts and components from the licensing system, and simplifying export licenses.
Overall, the government issued 1,762 export permits in the 2024-2025 fiscal year compared to 1,507 permits in the previous year, a growth of 16.92%, the data shows. The number of exporters also jumped by 17.4% in this period.
India’s arms imports fell by 4% between 2016-2020 and 2021-2025, but the country remains the world’s second-largest importer of military equipment, accounting for 8.2% of global arms imports, according to a recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
