India’s move to ban the import of some weapon systems and military hardware to boost local manufacturing is being hindered by its push to procure as much as $2 billion in equipment to increase its defense preparedness as it faces a border stand-off with China and volatile relations with Pakistan.
The new curbs on $47 billion-worth of imports that include communication satellites, conventional submarines and light machine guns, announced Aug. 9, failed to address critical issues such as the certification of systems and locally made components, and will not prevent the military from making emergency purchases of equipment from foreign vendors, defense experts say.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.