China's aggression, urgent need for arms put 'Make in India' on back burner

With the Ministry of Defence (MoD) clearing the emergency import of arms and equipment to help the military deal with Chinese aggression in Eastern Ladakh, the Make In India and Atmanirbhar programmes would be one of the quiet casualties of that crisis.

The planned import of several categories of weapons — specifically light tanks, Israeli Spike LR anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), US-made SIG Sauer assault rifles and MiG-29 fighter aircraft — will undercut Indian programmes to develop indigenous alternatives.

Light tanks

A key overseas procurement the MoD has initiated is for light tanks. The