India's desperate struggle to get into a first-world exporter club
Exporting fighter aircraft is not just business: it, of course, brings a lot of money to the exporting country, being a big-ticket item, but it also prepares the ground for developing strategic ties with the buyer countries. Big defence deals are often part of overall strategic ties.
India has been in overdrive to sell its indigenously built light-combat aircraft Tejas, manufactured by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), but has failed to find a customer so far. Yet, the frantic search for Tejas customers continues as India tries to boost its defence exports and build relations with many countries in order to consolidate the Global South.
India has been one of the world's biggest importers of defence equipment for decades, but it has punched below its weight in the global arms export market. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set ambitions to more than triple the value of annual defence exports to $5 billion over the next two years and his government has been making diplomatic efforts to export the Tejas.
The latest is discussions with visiting Argentinian defence minister Jorge Enrique Taiana by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday possibly for purchase of Tejas fighter jets. In June, India's ambassador to Argentina, Dinesh Bhatia, and the chief of Argentine Air Force, Brigadier General Xavier Isaac, discussed the export of the Tejas.The business so far Tejas zoomed into news last year when it was short-listed by Malaysia as it planned to replace its ageing fleet of fighter jets.
Malaysia had narrowed down on the Indian aircraft notwithstanding the stiff competition from China's JF-17 jet and Russia's Mig-35 as well as Yak-130. But ultimately, the Tejas lost out to South Korea's FA-50 which was picked
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