© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here’s your knowledge nugget for today.
(Relevance: India has signed significant defence agreements aimed at cooperation, collaboration, and the import and export of missiles, weapons, naval ships, and technology know-how. These bilateral agreements are meant to strengthen India’s defence posture against emerging terrorist threats in the Indian subcontinent. In the light of Operation Sindoor, these agreements become particularly relevant for your UPSC examination.)
The “Pahalgam attack was the first escalation,” the government said during a special briefing on Operation Sindoor on Thursday. Responding to the Pakistani attack on Indian military installations, India also attacked their military targets, even taking out an air defence system in Lahore, using its latest loitering munitions such as the Israeli HAROPs and the HARPYs. These can “loiter” or hover in the air close to the designated target before self-destructing on impact.
India’s advanced military capabilities have been strengthened by several defence agreements signed over the past decade. Let’s examine some of the important defence agreements signed in the recent past.
1. India-Russia: India’s flagship surface-to-air missile systems — S400 Triumf, Barak 8 MRSAM (Medium Range Surface to Air Missile) and the indigenous Akash — played a key role as the IAF activated its Integrated Counter UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) Grid and other air defence systems to thwart the attacks by Pakistan on 15 military bases and several cities. The S-400 air defence system was brought by India from Russia.
India and Russia have also signed agreements for the supply of MiG-29 fighter aircraft, Kamov helicopters, and for the licensed production of T-90 tanks, Su-30MKI fighters, AK-203 assault rifles, and BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. The INS Vikramaditya, one of the Indian Navy’s two aircraft carriers, is the former Soviet and Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov.
2. India-UK: In a historic move, India and the UK have finalised the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) earlier this week. This will further enhance the defence cooperation between the nations. In February, Defence Partnership-I (DP-I) was formally launched with the signing of multiple defence agreements at the Aero India 2025. Thales UK and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) have signed a contract to deliver laser beam riding MANPADs (LBRM), with an initial supply of high-velocity missiles (STARStreak) and launchers this year.
MBDA UK and BDL have been working together on the installation of a first-of-its-kind advanced short-range air-to-air missile assembly and test facility in Hyderabad, arming the current fleet of India’s fighter jets as well as exporting to the world.
Joint Military Exercise: Ex Ajeya Warrior (Army), Konkan (Navy), Indradhanush-iv (Airforce)
3. India-France: Last month, India and France inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for the procurement of 26 Rafale-M aircraft – 22 single-seater and four twin-seater – for the Indian Navy. The procurement includes training, a simulator, associated equipment, weapons, and performance-based logistics.
Over the years, alongside Russia, France has been a key and reliable source of defence equipment for India. Also, France was among the few Western nations that refrained from imposing sanctions on India following the Pokhran-II nuclear tests of 1998. Since then, the two countries have collaborated closely at nearly all multilateral forums.
Following the Ukraine war, France also figured in the list of the top three destinations for Indian defence exports in 2023-24. Last year, India and France also agreed on a Defence Industrial Roadmap to deepen cooperation. The Scorpene submarine project, additional purchases of Rafale jets and helicopters, as well as efforts toward indigenous production, are ongoing under this framework.
Joint Military Exercise: Ex Shakti (Army) and Varuna (Navy).
4. India-Thailand: During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Thailand to attend the 6th BIMSTEC leaders’ summit, India and Thailand agreed to upgrade their relations to a “strategic partnership”. Defence is one of the key sectors in their strategic partnership.
Both countries have agreed to institutionalise new frameworks for high-level consultations, including a strategic dialogue between their National Security Councils and enhanced defence coordination through technology transfers, joint training, and industry collaboration.
Joint Military Exercise: Ex Maitree (Army) and Indo-Thai CORPAT (Navy).
5. India-US: COMPACT: With their strategic cooperation straddling sectors from defence to high-tech, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a new initiative, the ‘US-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century’, to “drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation”.
Last year, during Rajnath Singh’s four-day official visit to the US, both countries signed a Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) and Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Assignment of Liaison Officers. Under SOSA, the US and India will provide reciprocal priority support to each other for goods and services that promote national defence.
US-origin defence items that are part of India’s defence inventory to date are C-130J Super Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, P-8I Poseidon aircraft, CH-47F Chinooks, MH-60R Seahawks, and AH-64E Apaches; Harpoon anti-ship missiles; M777 howitzers, and MQ-9Bs. The talks around importing of US-made F-35 Lightning-II combat aircraft are still underway.
Joint Military Exercise: Ex Yudhabhayas (Army), Ex Vajra Prahar (Army), Malabar (Navy), Red Flag 16-1 (Air Force).
6. India-New Zealand: In March this year, India signed a defence cooperation pact, the India-New Zealand Memorandum of Understanding for Defence Cooperation, with New Zealand, a partner of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance. This will further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation and establish regular bilateral defence engagement. It was part of the major agreements signed during the visit of the Prime Minister of New Zealand to India on 16-20 March 2025.
| Five Eyes intelligence alliance |
| “Five Eyes” refers to an intelligence-sharing alliance of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It was formed during World War II. The history of the ‘Five Eyes’ alliance dates back to an intelligence-sharing agreement signed between Washington and London. |
7. India-Indonesia: Underscoring the historical ties between India and Indonesia, President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia was invited as the Chief Guest to this year’s Republic Day celebration. Both sides have decided to strengthen cooperation in maritime security, cybersecurity, counter-terrorism, and de-radicalisation. Both sides also welcomed the ratification of the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA), which was signed in 2018. They expressed satisfaction on military and strategic cooperation, including the conduct of biannual India–Indonesia Coordinated Patrol and joint army and naval exercises.
Joint Military Exercise: Ex Garuda Shakti (Army) and Ex Samudra Shakti (Navy).
India has not revealed what weapons were used in Operation Sindoor early on May 7. The official statement said that the Indian Armed Forces carried out precision strikes, hitting terrorist infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Here are some of India’s important precision-guided long-range weapons and drones.
1. HAMMER: The Highly Agile and Manoeuvrable Munition Extended Range (HAMMER) air-to-ground precision-guided weapon system for the Rafale fighter aircraft has a range of up to 70 km, and can also be fitted to bombs and various guided systems.
2. SCALP: This is an air-launched cruise missile with stealth features, designed for long-range deep strikes. SCALP-EG (Système de Croisière Autonome à Longue Portée — Emploi Général), known as Storm Shadow in Britain, can be operated at night and in all weather conditions.
3. BRAHMOS: These supersonic cruise missiles are operationalised in all three defence services. It is built by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya. The missile operates on a ‘Fire and Forget Principle’, adopting varieties of flights on its way to the target.
4. METEOR: The Meteor is a new-generation Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) system which is effective in dense electronic-warfare environments.
Consider the following pairs:
| Exercise | Countries |
| 1. Ex Shakti | India-UK |
| 2. Ex Maitree | India-Bangladesh |
| 3. Ex Vajra Prahar | India-France |
| 4. Ex Garuda Shakti | India-indonesia |
How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) Only one pair
(b) Only two pairs
(c) Only three pairs
(d) All four pairs
| Answer key |
| (a) |
Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.
🚨 Click Here to read the UPSC Essentials magazine for April 2025. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com🚨
