Brahmos advances India's rise as major defence arms exporter: Report
New Delhi, May 18
As India advances on its path to becoming a major arms exporter, the BrahMos missile stands out as a symbol of its growing defence strength. Expanding expertise in missile manufacture and the increasing outreach, especially in the Global South, are strengthening India's "Defence Atmanirbharta", while elevating its position on the global stage, a report said on Monday.
According to a report in India Narrative, defence exports have emerged as a key foreign policy tool of India as the country seeks to establish itself as a major global player while strengthening its diplomatic influence and global partnerships.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has voiced confidence that India's defence exports will reach 50,000 crore rupees by 2030. As its defence market expands, India seeks to widen its influence in regions that align with its geopolitical and strategic interests, with the Global South becoming an increasingly important part of its strategic outlook.
The report noted that BrahMos supersonic cruise missile exports are emerging as a major catalyst in this direction. India's relations with Southeast Asia have transformed over time, and this current engagement reflects a new dimension, with the region seen as the latest defence market for New Delhi.
"Prime focus of this defence trade is the BrahMos missile. This supersonic cruise missile, jointly produced with Russia, has triggered curiosity because of its speed, precision strike capability and versatility, making it a formidable weapon for land, sea and air as well as submarine-based attacks. With a capacity of reaching speeds between Mach 2.8 and Mach 3, significantly faster than many conventional cruise missiles used by naval forces around the world, the missile can strike targets exceeding 400 kilometres away and can be launched from land, sea, and air platforms," the report detailed.
It underscored the growing traction of the missiles amid the increasing efforts of the South China Sea littoral states like the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia to enhance their deterrence capabilities.
Emphasising China's assertive naval posture in asserting its territorial claims over the South China Sea, where they overlap with those of other littoral states, the report noted that the strategy is intended to counter such moves. It added that strengthening anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities remains one of the key approaches for enhancing defensive capacity in the region.
"Indonesia stands on the brink of its own A2/AD breakthrough, and its decision to procure the BrahMos missile from India could become one of Southeast Asia's most consequential coastal-defence acquisitions. Vietnam is another potential customer of India's BrahMos missile as a littoral of the South China Sea. India and Vietnam discussed the BrahMos deal during Vietnam's President To Lam's visit to India (May 5-7) this year. It comes as part of the India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," the report mentioned.
"The Philippines received the first batch of the BrahMos missiles in 2024, becoming India's first customer of the missile, while India delivered the second batch of the missile in April 2025," it added.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is currently undertaking a two-nation visit to Vietnam and South Korea to discuss expanding strategic military ties, defence industrial partnerships, and maritime security cooperation to support stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a post on X, Singh said, "I will focus on deepening strategic military cooperation, strengthening defence industrial partnerships, boosting maritime collaboration, and promoting peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region."
— IANS
Reader Comments
The Global South outreach is smart diplomacy. While China bullies smaller neighbours, India offers reliable defence partnership without strings attached. BrahMos sales = trust in Indian quality.
Good progress but let's not get carried away. 50,000 crore target by 2030 is ambitious when our own forces still rely on imported spares for many platforms. Need to balance exports with self-reliance first.
Interesting to see India stepping up as a defence exporter in the Indo-Pacific. The BrahMos deal with Philippines shows growing trust in Indian technology. This could reshape regional dynamics against Chinese assertiveness.
This is what Atmanirbhar Bharat should achieve. We produce, we sell, we build strategic partnerships. BrahMos is just the beginning. Next should be Tejas, Akash, and more systems for friendly nations.
One concern: we're selling advanced missiles to countries with potential internal conflicts. Need strong end-user agreements to ensure these don't end up in wrong hands. But otherwise, great strategic move.
Wonder what Russia thinks about us exporting their tech? Joint production or not, this needs careful handling. But if managed well, India can become the go-to defence partner for
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