New Delhi: When Philippines inked $374.96 million deal to buy India’s supersonic cruise missile BrahMos for augmenting its military prowess, it hogged global limelight. Cynics doubting India’s growing military might also got a taste of their hollow rhetoric.
Now, Indonesia seeking a deal for BrahMos missiles gives yet another boost to India’s Act Easy Policy, a policy actively espoused by the Modi government. According to Financial Express, Indonesia has reached out to Indian counterpart for seeking import of BrhaMos supersonic missiles. It says that the talks are in advanced stage and a deal could be signed by the year end. The order for BrahMos was to be sealed earlier but got delayed due to Indonesia’s internal issues, it said.
If the defence deal goes through, Indonesia will become the second Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) country, after Philippines to import cruise missiles from India. In fact, the East Asian country has already shown its ‘liking & inclination’ for the Indo-Russian supersonic missile. In 2018, it expressed interest for the same
The BrahMos missile that Indonesia is expected to import from India is going to be fitted onboard its warships. A team from BrahMos Aerospace joint venture between New Delhi and Moscow has already visited Indonesia shipyard to study the possibility of fitting the missile.
India-Philippines deal for BrahMos
Earlier this year, India and Philippines signed a pact worth $ 374.96 million for supply of shore based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos missile.
The BrahMos, developed at a low budget of $300 million has turned out to be ‘favourite’ weapon of many countries in the region as countries like Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam have expressed keenness to have similar weapon in their arsenal. Malaysia, another ASEAN nation is also likely to announce its decision to buy Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
