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In a major relaxation, Germany has granted licence to India to purchase small arms from German companies. It has also significantly simplified the licensing requirements for the sale of military equipment to India, sources in the know said, stressing that this emphasises the importance Germany attaches to its relationship with India.
Germany is also looking at ways to scale up defence cooperation with India, with several military-to-military engagements lined up in the next few months.
“Beginning of April, Germany granted small arms licence to India. which is a huge exception. The request from India was for spare parts and accessories for the National Security Guard,” sources said.
Germany for some time has had a bar on the sale of small arms to third countries with the exception of European Union member states, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) countries and NATO-equivalent countries (Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland). This, officials had stated, was with the view that the chances of misuse as well as societal impact of small arms was much higher.
The German government has also eased approval process for defence purchases by India, sources said. “About 95% of licensing requests, though took some time, have been approved. In the last couple months, the licensing process has been shortened a lot and the process of responding and approving has been very quick.”
India has an inventory of MP5 sub-machine guns manufactured by Heckler & Koch. These are extensively used by the National Security Guard. Sources explained that the licence is not just specific to spares but a general one and India is open to buy more small arms if it wants to.
A strong India is important for Germany which is willing to support Indian armed forces to maintain international rules-based order and ensure freedom of navigation essential for global commerce, sources said, while also expressing “satisfaction” that the Indian military is moving away from dependence on Russia and in this direction Berlin is willing to “put stuff on the table.”
Further, Germany has also approved the offer of a tank engine and propulsion system for India’s indigenous light tank project.
Earlier, there was some delay in the prototype development after delays in licensing for German companies to supply the engines for the proposed tank, sources said, adding that Germany has also made an offer to India for tank engines for the indigenous Arjun tank and the light tank under development.
In August, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is scheduled to hold the multi-lateral exercise Tarang Shakti, in which the German Air Force would be joining other countries like the U.K, France, and Spain. Germany will deploy fighter jets and also a A-400M transport aircraft, it has been learnt. On the A-400M, sources noted that it would be showcased to the IAF given that it is also a contender in its Medium Transport Aircraft (MTA) tender that is under way. The IAF has sought global responses for a MTA with a carrying capacity of 18 to 30 tonnes which got three responses — Airbus A-400M, Lockheed Martin C-130, and Embraer C-390.
Two German Navy ships, a frigate, and a fleet replenishment tanker are scheduled to make port call in Goa from October 26 to 29 and before entering port will take part in an exercise with the Indian Navy. The two ships are on a seven-month-long deployment sailing across oceans.
The Indian Navy’s mega-submarine tender under Project-75I for six conventional submarines is making progress for which Germany and Spain are in the race. An Indian Navy team recently visited Germany to carry out compliance checks as per the tender requirements, and the process is now on in Spain. As reported by The Hindu earlier, Germany has presented a government-to-government proposal to India for the sale of six advanced conventional submarines under the P-75I programme, and a senior German delegation was in Delhi in January for discussions.
On this, sources expressed satisfaction over the evaluation and said that Germany would discuss the G-to-G proposal once the evaluation is complete while asserting that the German Air Independent Propulsion technology was mature and proven.
