Belgium\u2019s Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade, Theo Francken, has emphasised the need to strengthen defence cooperation with India through joint development and production initiatives, aiming to enhance the military capabilities of both countries.<\/p>\n
Speaking on September 3 at the India-Belgium Defence CEOs Roundtable and B2B Meetings in New Delhi, Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth encouraged Belgian defence manufacturers to combine their technological expertise with India\u2019s large manufacturing capacity. This collaboration is intended to foster joint ventures in niche defence products to support mutual security and prosperity.<\/p>\n
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The event was attended by representatives from the Belgian industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers. Theo Francken highlighted the increasing strategic partnership between India and the European Union, citing ongoing dialogues on maritime security, information security, and aerospace. He described India as a trusted partner for the EU and called for strengthening both nations\u2019 militaries in the evolving security environment, stating, \u201cUnited we stand, divided we fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanjay Seth described India\u2019s defence sector as undergoing strategic transformation from import dependency towards indigenous capability, trusted partnerships, and global competitiveness through initiatives such as Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make-in-India. He added, \u201cThis transformation is outward-facing. Strategic autonomy is best secured through credible, mutually beneficial international collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Minister identified key areas for collaboration between India and Belgium, including cyber security, AI-enabled unmanned aerial systems, underwater domain vehicles, and complex weapon systems. He noted that innovation platforms like iDEX and ADITI are involving start-ups and MSMEs in AI, quantum technologies, military communications, anti-drone systems, and adaptive camouflage, offering \u201cexcellent avenues for bilateral R&D and industrialisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanjay Seth outlined India\u2019s robust defence industrial base comprising Defence Public Sector Units, a growing private sector, and over 16,000 MSMEs, delivering advanced capabilities across aerospace, naval and land platforms, defence electronics, cyber security, space technologies, and unmanned systems. Department of Defence Production-led initiatives are accelerating capacity building, strengthening value chains, and encouraging technology transfer and co-development.<\/p>\n
He also highlighted the liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment in defence, permitting up to 74 per cent under the automatic route and up to 100 per cent through the government route to support partnerships in niche technologies. The new space policy allows 100 per cent FDI. Dedicated Defence Industrial Corridors in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, with plans for corridors in Maharashtra, Assam and other regions, provide incentives and ecosystem support for foreign original equipment manufacturers and partners.<\/p>\n
Several memorandums of understanding were signed to promote the integration of Belgian technology with Indian manufacturing capabilities. These included agreements between the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers and Belgian Security & Defence Industry; Larsen & Toubro Limited and Exail Robotics SAS and EXAIL Robotics; Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd and FN Herstal; Tembo Classic Engineering Pvt Ltd and Lachauss\u00e9e SA; India Optel Ltd and OIP; Krishna Industries Pvt Ltd and Pitagone; DGVK Enterprises Private Limited and Sol1 BV; and Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd with Thales Belgium SA and Thales India Pvt Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Belgium\u2019s Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade, Theo Francken, has emphasised the need to strengthen defence cooperation with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-8878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-defence-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}