The defense minister is planning to sell German submarines to India – even though the country has not taken a clear stance against Russia’s war. Nevertheless, he thinks the partnership makes sense.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is aiming for increased military cooperation with India. “It’s about deepening this strategic partnership,” the SPD politician told the ARD “Morgenmagazin” from New Delhi today.
He then met with representatives of the German armaments industry, which wants to expand its engagement with India. Pistorius made it clear that “of course he didn’t have any contracts with him,” but was in the country to accompany and support it. He wanted to meet government officials today.
The defense minister referred to the long-term cooperation between India and Germany that has existed since the 1980s. “It’s about the fact that we see each other as strategic partners, have always understood and will need to understand even more,” he said.
Import of military hardware from Germany
It is currently about a multi-billion dollar deal involving the sale of German submarines to India. India is “one of the most important partners in the region,” said Pistorius.
He made it clear that this applies regardless of the fact that India has not taken a clear political stance against Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. Germany would be well advised not to expect everyone to make confessions, said Pistorius. India is also very dependent on supplies from the Russian armaments industry.
India, with around 1.4 billion inhabitants, has one of the largest armies in the world. The nuclear power is also one of the world’s largest importers of military hardware. Because the country wants to modernize its armed forces. For military hardware, New Delhi is also heavily dependent on Russia because of a historically close relationship with Moscow.
Recently, however, the country has tried to increasingly produce domestically – alone and in cooperation with other countries. The military is important for India, partly because of very strained relations with neighboring countries China and India, with whom India has already fought wars. These countries also have nuclear capacity.
Source: Stern
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