In Geopolitics Today - Monday, December 6th
India Signs Bilateral Deals in Defence & Trade with Russia and Largest Arms Sellers See Another Year of Boosted Sales
India Signs Bilateral Deals in Defence & Trade with Russia
The two countries signed a host of agreements which will see them extend cooperation for the next ten years. At a summit in New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin as both leaders exchanged pleasantries and signed a slew of bilateral defence agreements. With the agenda firmly focused around political and defence issues, the meeting between Modi and Putin came hours after a strategic dialogue to discuss reinforcing ties was held between the foreign and defence ministers of the two countries. India and Russia have a history of close ties and the relationship is targeting $30bn in bilateral trade by the end of 2025.
The reported 28 deals signed between India and Russia include a joint venture called Indo-Russian Rifles, which will produce roughly 600,000 Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles for the Indian armed forces over the next 10 years. Indian officials have stated that the production of these rifles will take place at a factory in Uttar Pradesh, and that the plant would begin production within months. Moreover, the two countries signed agreements on steel, shipbuilding, coal and energy, and decided to extend their military technology cooperation for a decade. On current deals, both leaders made statements of appraisal for the Russian delivery of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India despite the threat of US sanctions.
While the relationship between the two countries has been extensive since the Cold War, the leadership in both capitals must contend with the changing nature of complex regional dynamics. As New Delhi and Beijing continue to bolster their military capabilities, skirmishes on the disputed border they share have led to a months-long military standoff. Seeking to securitize against the other, New Delhi is increasingly turning to Washington while Beijing strengthens its ties with Russia. There has been speculation that as a result of this regional realignment, the India-Russia relationship may be fraying because of Russia’s close ties with China and India’s with the US. Nevertheless, Moscow and New Delhi have chosen to reinforce mutual ties, and it appears the two countries will continue their ‘privileged’ relationship despite the changing nature of regional dynamics.
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Largest Arms Sellers See Another Year of Boosted Sales
A study conducted by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has found that despite global economic contraction, weapons sales for the largest companies across the globe have increased by 1.3 percent in comparison to the previous year. The 100 largest companies operating in the sales of arms and military services totalled $531 billion in 2020, illustrating a continuation of a trend seen in recent years as the report marks the sixth consecutive year of growth in arms sales. The report finds makes clear that the industry giants have been shielded by sustained government demand for military goods and services as global arms sales have seen an increase of 17 percent since 2015. The report finds that the top defence companies based in the United States, China, the UK, Russia, France, Germany, Israel and Japan account for the vast majority of global arms sales in the year 2020.
Companies operating in the United States continue to represent the largest share of defence companies ranked in the Top 100. Altogether, the 41 US companies in the list were responsible for $285 billion in yearly arms sales, representing an increase of 1.9 percent when compared with 2019, and made up 54 percent of the entire list’s total arms sales. Below the US was China, with five Chinese companies appearing in the list accumulating combined arms sales of $66.8 billion in 2020. This is a 1.5 percent increase on the previous year, and China’s defence firms accounted for 13 percent of total in 2020. The seven UK companies conducted arms sales in the value of $37.5 billion, a rise of 6.2 percent compared with 2019. The nine Russian companies listed amounted to a total of $26.4 billion in 2020, suffering sharp drops from the previous year as Russian arms sales fell by 6.5 percent from the $28.2 billion recorded in 2019.
In the European Union, French arms sales in 2020 amounted to $24.7 billion, and its six listed companies accounted for 4.7 per cent of total arms sales. Germany saw arms sales by its four leading defence firms increase by 1.3 percent to $8.9 billion in 2020, which amounted to 1.7 percent of the total arms sales. A total of 26 European defence companies appear in the top 100 list, together accounting for $109 billion in arms sales, seeing an increase of 1.0 percent on the previous year, and making up 21 percent of the total. Beyond the states mentioned, the arms sales of companies in the list based outside the US, China, UK, Russia and Europe totalled $43.1 billion in 2020, which is an increase of 3.4 percent from the previous year, and represents 8.1 per cent of the total arms sales in the study.
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