Pak, Turkiye, Qatar, Indonesia sign def pact, experts say ‘Badr MoU’ won’t put New Delhi-Jakarta missile…

NEW DELHI: Turkiye, Qatar, Pakistan and Indonesia Wednesday signed ‘Badr Memorandum of Understanding’ in Doha to boost defence cooperation and strengthen defensive capabilities. The accord seeks to foster cooperation in military production, boost military capabilities and help collaboration in technical military training, research and development.“By leveraging the unique military production capabilities of each country, the initiative will facilitate cooperation and integration, enhance defence industrial capacities, and enable the fulfillment of the needs of allied and friendly nations,” Turkish defence ministry said in a statement.

But will this Mo U put India’s recent defence agreements with Indonesia on advanced weaponry in jeopardy? New Delhi had in July inked two major agreements worth $630 million with Jakarta for selling Brah Mos cruise missiles and Astra air-to-air missiles.

Talking to TOI, Sudhir Kumar Mishra, DRDO chair (emeritus) and former director general, CEO & MD of Brah Mos Aerospace, said, “Defence agreements with Indonesia have been done with enough safeguards and that only user manual, not technology of transfer manual, will be shared with Jakarta.”“Secondly, there are strict data protection, intellectual property, and defence sovereignty clauses embedded within the agreements that Indonesia has to honour. There is no question of technologies of Brah Mos and Astra getting into the hands of our rivals,” he said.

Another defence expert, Group Capt Ajay Ahlawat (Retd), who is Senior Fellow at Centre for Aerospace Power and Strategic Studies, rubbished any speculation of defence pacts with Jakarta getting derailed.“An Mo U is not equal to a military alliance. It would be unwise to let go of a confirmed defence export contract for an Mo U which may not amount to anything.

The wordings suggest that Badr Mo U is just a work-share agreement. The Mo U is a working arrangement among countries with common Islamic identity, seeking to synergise their defence R&D.

India should monitor it but not worry about it. For becoming a defence powerhouse, India has to export its indigenously developed weapons to like-minded countries.

Hence, the defence pacts with Indonesia and other southeast Asian countries are happening. Selling weapons doesn’t automatically involve sharing technology that would enable the buyer to do things themselves.

Indonesia would need OEM support (India) to operate, maintain and later for life extension of these (Brah Mos and Astra) missiles. So, India should continue its pursuit of becoming a net defence equipment exporter.” he told TOI.

Key quotes

• “By leveraging the unique military production capabilities of each country, the initiative will facilitate cooperation and integration, enhance defence industrial capacities, and enable the fulfillment of the needs of allied and friendly nations,”

• “Defence agreements with Indonesia have been done with enough safeguards and that only user manual, not technology of transfer manual, will be shared with Jakarta.”

• “Secondly, there are strict data protection, intellectual property, and defence sovereignty clauses embedded within the agreements that Indonesia has to honour. There is no question of technologies of Brah Mos and Astra getting into the hands of our rivals,”