Argentina and India have resolved to expand their bilateral defense industrial collaboration, and Tejas fighter jets, BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, and other military gear may be exported to Argentina in the future
Defence minister Rajnath Singh held delegation-level talks with his visiting Argentinian counterpart Jorge Enrique Taiana to discuss the ongoing defence cooperation initiatives, including measures to enhance the defence-industrial partnership. “India and Argentina are working closely together to make defence engagements an important facet of their strategic partnership, which was elevated to that level in 2019,” a MoD official said. “An MoU on defence cooperation too has been in force since 2019 while both sides are engaged to conclude further instruments to deepen the engagement,” he added.
Taiana went to the BrahMos Aerospace headquarters in New Delhi, and is slated to visit the facilities of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which manufactures Tejas jets and Dhruv advanced light helicopters, in Bengaluru. As was reported earlier, Argentina now wants India to submit a formal proposal for its proposed acquisition of 16 Tejas fighters. But the country has also insisted that there should be no British-origin parts in the Tejas jets, given its lingering dispute with the UK.
An Argentine technical team had already visited India to assess Tejas. A HAL delegation and the Indian ambassador to Argentina, Dinesh Bhatia, met with Taiana and the head of the Argentine Air Force, Brig. General Xavier Isaac, last month to discuss 'Make in India' defense production capabilities, particularly the Tejas and Dhruv choppers.