Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently in Indonesia for an official visit. During this visit of the Indian PM, the two countries are expected to sign several major strategic, defense and economic pacts covering critical minerals and maritime infrastructure among other sectors. However, one area of co-operation between the two countries that stands out is the co-operation in defense sector.
India will now reportedly supply the BrahMos cruise missile system and the Astra air-to-air missile to Indonesia. Notably, the global reputation of Indian missile systems went up several notches last year when India used them to destroy the terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. BrahMos was a key part of that offensive as Pakistan and their Chinese weaponry couldn’t find an answer to these Indian missiles.
The demand for India’s indigenous weapons has been growing since then and Indonesia has decided to import Astra air-to-air missiles acknowledging the trustworthiness of Indian weapons. The Astra missile was developed indigenously by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and recently completed flight trials.
In addition to Astra, Indonesia also wants to expand its BrahMos missile inventory, and India will support Jakarta by supplying additional BrahMos missile batteries.
Notably, it was the BrahMos that brought Pakistan to its knees during Operation Sindoor as the supersonic missile destroyed several Pakistani airbases and forced Pakistan to beg for a ceasefire. BrahMos, a joint India-Russia venture known for its supersonic speed and precision strike capabilities, has generated major global interest following the operation against Pakistan.
Currently, Indonesia is planning to procure one additional BrahMos battery, with a possibility of increasing the order to three batteries. This will strengthen the defense partnership between the two countries.
