How have India-Germany defence ties fared and what is the way ahead
The Minister for External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar, undertook a visit to the Federal Republic of Germany from May 22-24, where bilateral cooperation in the field of defence and security featured high on the agenda during his talks with German leaders, including the Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who assumed office just about a month ago.
“The two sides reaffirmed their shared commitment to further expand collaboration in key strategic areas, including defence, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, green and sustainable development and talent mobility,” a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs read.
“Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening strategic, defence and security cooperation, including in the areas of cyber security, Indo-Pacific and defence industrial collaboration,” the statement added.
India and Germany — which is highly influential within the European Union — have strong, deep-rooted bilateral relations based on economic and cultural interface. Germany is India’s top trading partner in Europe, with trade touching $26.10 billion in 2023-24, but historically defence has not featured prominently in the interactions between the two countries, despite institutionalised mechanisms for defence cooperation having been put in place over the last 25 years.
Procurement of military equipment from Germany, since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1951, has been negligible. Russia, France, United States, Israel and the United Kingdom have been way ahead.
So far, India has procured Dornier Do-228 light transport aircraft in the 1980s, which were also licenced-produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and four Type-209 diesel-electric submarines, christened Shishumar Class that were commissioned between 1984-96, from Germany. Some small arms like the MP-5 sub-machinegun used by Indian special forces are also of German origin.
Earlier this year, India and Germany agreed upon a new partnership for submarine technology, with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems bagging a Rs 90,000 crore contract to design and build six next-generation submarines for the Indian Navy under Project 75. This includes technology transfer to India that would assist in indigenous submarine development programmes.
In September 2006, the Bilateral Defence Cooperation Agreement was signed followed by the Agreement on Mutual Protection of Classified Information in October 2007 to provide a framework for bilateral defence ties. To further enhance defence ties, the Arrangement on Implementation of the Agreement of 2006 concerning Bilateral Defence Cooperation was signed in February 2019 in Berlin.
In the summer of 2023, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius visited India after attending the Asian security summit, Shangri-La Dialogue, in Singapore. In February 2024, the defence ministers of India and Germany met in Berlin to discuss further cooperation. Germany’s ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, was later quoted in the media saying that there has now been a huge paradigm shift and a clear political will in Germany to increase defence cooperation with India through military visits, exercises, co-production and other areas, including new ones like cyber.
The multi-national Exercise Tarang Shakti in August 2024 saw the participation of the German Air Force, Luftwaffe, for the first time. Later in the autumn of 2024, a German frigate, accompanied by a support vessel, called on an Indian port.
Over the last few years, there have been significant geopolitical events that have implications for European security. These include the Russia-Ukraine war, conflict in the Middle East, China’s growing belligerence as also US President Donald Trump’s little concern for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a largely US financed group that has been providing a security shield for Europe since the end of the Second World War. To add to this is the tariff-based trade war initiated by Trump that impacts supply chains and trade balances.
This has led to western European nations, including France, Germany and the UK, to rethink and focus greater attention to their own defence preparedness and in the process kicking up force modernisation and boosting their own defence infrastructure, including production and procurement.
Consequently, Germany’s focus on the Indo-Pacific is part of a broader strategy to protect its national interests in an environment of shifting power dynamics and escalating military activities. Towards this end, Germany has been increasing its military presence in the Indo-Pacific and strengthening its defence ties.
Germany has a strong defence industry base that goes back over a century, with pioneering developments in the First and Second World War eras. Besides producing some top-of-the-line platforms like main battle tanks and submarines, it also has a strong presence in the civil aviation sector, being a part of the Airbus Corporation. The German aerospace and defence market is estimated at $19.99 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach $28.45 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 7.31 per cent.
On the other hand, there has been a strong impetus on indigenous defence production in India in pursuit of self-reliance. Defence production, primarily in the public sector domain but with growing forays by the private sector and start-ups, touched 1.27 lakh crore in 2023-24, accounting for a 174 per cent increase since 2014. At Rs 21.083 crore in 2023-24, defence exports witnessed a 30-fold increase over a decade.
The Indian government has set a target of Rs 3 lakh crore for production and Rs 50,000 crore for exports by 2029. Some Indian weapons like the BrahMos cruise missile, Akash surface to air missile and Pinaka multi-barrel rocket systems have already envisioned interest from several foreign countries. The success of India-made weapons and air defence network systems during Operation Sindoor has been an added bonus.
All this offers immense opportunities in the defence and aerospace domains. Radar and sensor technologies, ammunition production, air defence systems, naval platforms and aircraft components are amongst prospective areas of collaboration along with intelligence sharing and close anti-terror cooperation as both countries reach out to each other amidst a volatile geopolitical environment.
India