India asks Israel for joint ventures by its armament companies for co-production of weapon systems in tune with Make-in-India | India News

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday asked Israel for stepped-up investments and joint ventures by its armament companies for co-production of weapon systems in tune with the ‘Make-in-India‘ policy.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh underlined the government’s priority for indigenisation in accordance with the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat‘ policy during a meeting with the Israeli delegation led by foreign minister Eli Cohen.
“Rajnath Singh acknowledged the cooperation being extended by Israeli companies and encouraged them for more investments in India and for forging joint ventures with Indian partners to manufacture defence equipment in India,” a MoD official said.
“The Israeli minister affirmed continued cooperation of Israel in India’s endeavour for indigenisation. He conveyed Israel’s willingness to cooperate and partner in advanced technologies,” he added.
Israel has been among the top four arms suppliers – along with US, Russia and France – to India for over two decades now. The Indian armed forces, for instance, are now inducting the next-generation Barak-8 surface-to-air missile systems under three joint DRDO-Israel Aerospace Industries projects worth over Rs 30,000 crore.
India has earlier procured a wide array of Israeli weapon systems, ranging from Phalcon AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) and Heron, Searcher-II and Harop drones to Barak anti-missile defence systems and Spyder quick-reaction anti-aircraft missile systems.