India signs defence pacts with Germany and Sweden

  1. India signed defence cooperation and security protection agreements with Germany and Sweden during the ongoing visit of Defence Minister of India.
  2. India and Sweden have concluded a security protection agreement that will enable both countries to share classified information with each other. Classified information is that which a government or agency deems sensitive enough to national security that access to it must be controlled and restricted.
  3. Defence minister during a visit to Germany signed an Implementing Arrangement on Enhanced Defence and Defence Industry Cooperation, which would further strengthen military to military engagement, the defence industry as well as research and development (R&D) linkages.
  4. Sweden and Germany are pursuing opportunities to build fighter jets and next-generation submarines in India under the government’s strategic partnership (SP) model that seeks to provide impetus to the ‘Make in India’ programme.
  5. The strategic partnership (SP) model envisages local manufacturing of major defence platforms by an Indian strategic partner who will collaborate with a foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to set up production facilities in the country.