India and Germany on Tuesday reviewed the entire spectrum of their bilateral defence ties particularly collaboration in defence industrial partnership during talks here between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart Boris Pistorius. He reportedly evinced interest in collaborating on production of six conventional submarines worth over Rs 45,000 crores.
India is set to build six conventional submarines under the Strategic Partnership project and one of the contenders for the proposed deal is Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS).
The other companies in the race are Naval Group-France, JSC ROE-Russia, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co Ltd-South Korea and Navantia-Spain. The selected manufacturer will tie with Indian companies namely Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Larsen and Tubro (L&T). In June 2021, the defence ministry cleared the mega project named P-75 I to domestically build six conventional submarines for the Indian Navy.
The submarines will be built under the strategic partnership model that allows domestic defence manufacturers to join hands with leading foreign defence majors to produce high-end military platforms to reduce import dependence. Giving details of the talks, defence ministry officials said Rajnath highlighted the opportunities that have opened up in the defence production sector, including the possibilities for German investments in the two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
The Indian defence industry could participate in the supply chains of German defence industry and add value to the ecosystem, besides contributing to supply chain resilience, officials said. Rajnath stressed that India and Germany could build a more symbiotic relationship based on shared goals and complementarity of strength, namely skilled workforce and competitive costs from India and high technologies and investment from Germany.
India and Germany have a Strategic Partnership since 2000, which is being strengthened through Inter-Governmental Consultations since 2011 at the level of Heads of Government.
Senior officials from Ministry of Defence, including Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Chief of Defence Staff(CDS) General Anil Chauhan, participated in the delegation-level meeting. From the German side, State Secretary from Ministry of Defence Benedikt Zimmer, apart from senior officials and the German Ambassador to India, were present. This is the first visit of a German Defence Minister to India since 2015.
The bilateral meeting was preceded by a Tri-Service Guard of Honour to the visiting dignitary. Later in the day, Pistorius interacted with some Indian defence start-ups at IIT Delhi, in an event organised by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX).
The German Minister arrived in India on Monday on a four-day visit. On Wednesday, he will travel to Mumbai, where he is scheduled to visit the Headquarters, Western Naval Command and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. Ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine and its implications on the world also reportedly figured in the talks between the two ministers.