A joint venture between India and Russia that has developed supersonic cruise missiles hopes to secure $5 billion worth of orders by 2025, its chairman said on Tuesday.
The company, BrahMos Aerospace, is in talks with Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia for new orders, having bagged a first export deal of $375 million with the Philippines this year, its chairman Atul D Rane said.
BrahMos is a 50.5% Indian and 49.5% Russian partnership that has fitted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Make-in-India programme.
India has made Russian MiG fighter planes and Su-30 jets under licence and the two countries have collaborated to make BrahMos missiles in India. Russia has also traditionally been India’s main arms supplier.
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Military ‘Partnership’
In April last year, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the two countries were discussing “additional” production of Russian military equipment in India.
India, which has not explicitly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has also emerged as Moscow’s second-largest oil customer after China as Indian refiners snap up discounted Russian oil shunned by some Western buyers.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a target of achieving $5 billion (in defence exports) by 2025. I hope BrahMos themselves will be able to reach the $5 billion target by 2025,” Rane said.
India Cool on Oil Price Cap Idea
Meanwhile, Indian officials have said the country is reluctant to join the US-led initiative to cap prices of Russian crude oil, according to a report by LiveMint, which quoted two sources who said the country gets a steep discount on oil from Russia and wants to maintain the relationship with its long-time strategic partner.
The price cap plan – which aims to reduce Russia’s revenues and ability to fund the war in Ukraine and limit the impact on global energy prices – was discussed by G7 finance ministers in early September.
Initially, in late June, both China and India were reported to be happy about the plan. But Russia’s warning that it will cut oil supplies to any country that joins the move appears to have eroded such support.
“Why would we want to be part of it? We have to balance our interests,” an unnamed government was quoted as saying.
With India dependent on imports for as much as 85% of its oil needs and over half of its natural gas demand, high energy prices are a big concern for a huge country such as India, the report said.
- Reuters, with additional editing from Alfie Habershon and Jim Pollard
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