Following the recent MoU between India and South Korea for Korean help in building 5 Fleet Support Ships at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) Visakhapatnam, and an earlier tie up between L&T and South Korea’s Techwin for collaborative manufacture of 155mm guns for the Indian Army, South Korea’s profile as an Indian defence partner is on the rise. A deal on building minesweepers at Goa Shipyard is likely
India has quickly, but effectively, added another arms supplier to its list, after Russia, US, Israel, France and United Kingdom. India has added South Korea to this illustrious list of nations that are major suppliers to India of weapons and defence systems that keep India safe and secure from the evil eyes of the enemy.
South Korea has broken into the elite league by bagging a few high-yield deals with India in the last couple of years. 2017 has been a major success for South Korean arms suppliers and warship builders. On April 22 this year, the governments of India and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint shipbuilding. While India nominated Hindustan Shipyard Limited at Visakhapatnam to be the Indian defence shipyard in this partnership, South Korea is to name its shipyard later. On April 21, India and South Korea signed the inter-governmental memorandum of understanding for Defence Industry Cooperation in Shipbuilding at a ceremony in New Delhi. The MoU was signed by Secretary (Defence Production) Ashok Kumar Gupta from the Indian side and Minister of Defence Acquisition and Programme Administration (DAPA) Chang Myoung-Jin from the South Korean side. The MoU will help the 'Make in India' initiative of the Government of India.
The salient points of the MoU are: (a) Develop and strengthen defence industry cooperation between Republic of India and the Republic of Korea; (b) The two sides will recommend the organisations for collaborating in the implementation of specific projects; (c) The organisations recommended for cooperative projects may conclude separate agreements (contracts) between them to implement the specific projects; and (d) The MoU will come into effect from the date of signature by both sides and will be initially valid for a period of five years and would be automatically extendable for further successive five year at a time.
This story is from the June 2017 edition of Geopolitics.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 2017 edition of Geopolitics.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
India's space economy set to soar
India's burgeoning space economy could see a substantial increase in its global share by 2040. At present, India's space sector contributes a modest $8 billion to the overall cake. However, the government has set its sights on an ambitious target, aiming for a five-fold surge in India's share of the global space economy.
CRITICAL NEED TO BOOST CONVENTIONAL SUBMARINE FLEET
VENUGOPAL MENON explains why India cannot afford to view the critical deficiency in Submarine force levels lightly
BEEFING UP OUR SUBMARINE FLEET
In the last week of March, the Indian Navy displayed its submarine prowess. Eight of its submarines operated together in the Western Indian Ocean Region, a first in three decades, and one of its Scorpene submarines sailed to the Andaman Nicobar Islands, overlooking the Malacca Strait, a critical choke point for China. But how is the comparison with China? RITU SHARMA reports
ENHANCING CRUISE MISSILE CAPABILITY
India’s cruise missile capability has largely evolved as a credible conventional level deterrence since the turn of the new millennium. But much more needs to be done, writes AMARTYA SINHA
BOOSTING DEFENCE EXPORTS
Earlier, India was known to be an arms importer. But today, the country has come out of its comfort zone and found a place in the list of top-25 arms exporter nations argues AMARTYA SINHA
ENHANCING INDIA'S AIRBORNE SURVEILLANCE CAPABILITIES
Project NETRA represents a proactive initiative by ISRO to safeguard India's interests in space by mitigating the risks posed by space debris and other hazards, says GIRISH LINGANNA
THE HIMALAYAN TRIANGLE: WHY INDIA KEEPS BHUTAN SAFE FROM CHINA
India, given its special relationship with Bhutan, has been very wary about the possibility of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the signing of a boundary agreement between Bhutan and China, writes SIMRAN SODHI
TROOST, DESAI AND SANCTIONS
The Western sanctions against companies and individuals doing business with Russia have produced a complex set of reactions with lobbyists and shell companies working overtime to beat the rap. A GEOPOLITICS Bureau report
THE KOREA-GATE
India attaches great importance to “three principles of inclusiveness, trust and reciprocity’” for creating the basis for working more closely with like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific such as the Republic of Korea (ROK), better known as South Korea for “a free, peaceful and prosperous region”. Prakash Nanda dissects the relationship and the way ahead
Pushpak RLV-TD successfully lands autonomously
ISRO achieved another significant milestone in reusable launch vehicle (RLV) technology with the successful landing of Pushpak (RLV-TD), the winged vehicle, autonomously on the runway.
