‘RAKSHA’ charts 10-year course for India’s defence diplomacy

NEW DELHI: The Centre has unveiled a 10-year roadmap, ‘RAKSHA’, to strengthen India’s defence diplomacy, with a focus on expanding strategic partnerships, enhancing defence capabilities, increasing indigenous defence exports and strengthening maritime security. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released the document, which positions defence diplomacy as a core pillar of India’s foreign policy.

The roadmap seeks to strengthen military cooperation with friendly countries through joint military exercises, training programmes and the sharing of best practices. India will also use its diplomatic network to promote indigenously manufactured defence equipment in overseas markets, with the aim of increasing defence exports and strengthening its position in the global defence market.

India will continue to provide assistance and cooperation to enhance the defence capabilities of friendly countries. The roadmap also seeks to strengthen India’s role as a security provider and first responder in the Indian Ocean Region. Its focus areas include maritime security, anti-piracy operations, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

Strategic partnerships, capacity building, indigenous defence exports and maritime security have been identified as the key pillars of the roadmap. The initiative aims to provide a long-term direction to India’s defence diplomacy amid the evolving global security environment.