RAKSHA: India Turns Defence Ties Into Strategic Power

India has spent years expanding defence partnerships across the Indo Pacific, conducting military exercises, training foreign personnel, exporting weapons, building maritime capacity and pursuing joint production with strategic partners.

What it lacked was a single framework connecting these activities to a larger foreign policy objective.

That changed on September 3, 2026, when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released RAKSHA, a ten year defence diplomacy roadmap designed to guide India’s global defence partnerships.

The document identifies four core pillars: strategic partnerships, capacity building, indigenous defence exports and maritime security. It seeks to align national security objectives with international cooperation and gives defence diplomacy a more structured role within India’s foreign policy.

For UPSC, RAKSHA deserves attention because it is not simply another defence policy announcement. It reflects a larger transition in Indian statecraft. India increasingly wants military relationships to perform several functions at once: strengthen strategic influence, support domestic defence manufacturing, create export markets, improve interoperability and reinforce its role as a security partner in the Indian Ocean and beyond.

The real significance of RAKSHA therefore lies in institutionalisation.

What Is Defence Diplomacy?

Defence diplomacy is the use of military relationships and defence cooperation to advance wider foreign policy and national security objectives without relying on armed conflict.

It can include joint military exercises, officer training, port visits, military dialogues, equipment exports, technology partnerships, humanitarian assistance, capacity building and cooperation between defence industries.

These activities create relationships that often survive political changes because armed forces develop institutional familiarity over many years.

For India, defence diplomacy is particularly important because its strategic approach is different from that of a traditional alliance power. India generally avoids formal military alliances but maintains extensive defence relationships with countries across different geopolitical blocs.

This allows New Delhi to cooperate with the United States, France, Russia, Japan, Australia, Southeast Asian states, Gulf countries and nations across Africa without making every relationship dependent on an alliance treaty.

RAKSHA attempts to give this flexible model greater strategic direction.

Why RAKSHA Marks an Institutional Shift

India has practised defence diplomacy for decades. What is new is the attempt to organise it around a publicly articulated long term framework.

The official RAKSHA roadmap places strategic partnerships, capacity building, indigenous exports and maritime security within the same structure. This matters because these areas were often pursued through separate bilateral dialogues, service level engagements, export negotiations and training arrangements.

RAKSHA creates the possibility of treating them as parts of one strategic system.

Consider a partner country in Southeast Asia.

India could conduct naval exercises with that country, train its military officers, provide maritime surveillance support, sell an Indian defence platform and later offer maintenance, upgrades and additional equipment.

Each individual activity may appear limited. Together, however, they can create a durable strategic relationship.

This is where the value of institutionalisation becomes visible. Defence diplomacy becomes more effective when relationships are built over years rather than through isolated visits or transactions.

The Pentagon Comparison Is Useful, but Not Exact

A useful way to understand RAKSHA is to compare its logic with the United States security cooperation system, while recognising that the two are not identical.

The United States Department of Defense treats security cooperation as a broad set of activities designed to help international partners work with Washington toward shared strategic objectives. Its system includes military engagement, training, equipment, exercises, international armaments cooperation and information sharing. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency provides institutional structures for planning and implementing many of these activities.

India does not possess the same alliance network, overseas military footprint or arms transfer architecture as the United States.

The relevant lesson is institutional coherence.

The American model attempts to ensure that an arms sale, a training programme or a military exercise is connected to wider strategic objectives.

RAKSHA can perform a similar coordinating function in the Indian context.

Instead of seeing a defence export as simply a commercial transaction, India can ask what long term strategic relationship that export creates. Instead of viewing a joint exercise as an isolated military event, policymakers can examine whether it contributes to interoperability, maritime awareness or regional capacity.

That is the deeper shift from defence engagement to defence strategy.

Defence Exports Make RAKSHA Economically Important

RAKSHA has appeared at a particularly important moment for India’s defence industry.

India recorded defence exports worth ₹38,424 crore in financial year 2025 to 2026, an increase of 62.66 percent over the previous year. The private sector accounted for 45.16 percent of those exports. India’s annual defence production also reached a record ₹1.78 lakh crore during the same financial year.

These numbers change the purpose of defence diplomacy.

When a country is primarily an arms importer, defence diplomacy often revolves around securing technology, favourable procurement terms and reliable suppliers.

As domestic production expands, diplomacy must also help Indian companies enter foreign markets.

This requires far more than selling a missile or radar.

Defence equipment creates relationships that can last for decades. Buyers need training, ammunition, spare parts, maintenance, upgrades, technical assistance and confidence that the supplier will remain dependable during a crisis.

India therefore needs diplomatic relationships capable of supporting the entire life of an exported defence platform.

RAKSHA explicitly recognising indigenous defence exports as a pillar of defence diplomacy is significant for this reason.

BrahMos Shows How Defence Exports Become Strategy

The expansion of BrahMos exports provides perhaps the clearest example.

India had already exported the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system to the Philippines. In May 2026, India confirmed that a BrahMos supply agreement had been signed with Vietnam. In July, India and Indonesia also announced cooperation involving the BrahMos missile system as India expanded its strategic engagement with Southeast Asia.

These are not ordinary manufactured goods.

Missile exports can require training, logistics, infrastructure, technical support and long term military interaction. They can therefore deepen relationships between armed forces and create strategic links between governments.

That is why defence exports and defence diplomacy cannot be separated.

A successful export ecosystem needs diplomats who understand defence markets, military officers who can support training relationships, manufacturers capable of long term servicing and government institutions that can coordinate approvals and financing.

RAKSHA can become the architecture connecting these pieces.

The Javelin Case Shows the Other Side of Defence Diplomacy

India’s defence diplomacy is not only about exporting Indian equipment. It is also about using foreign partnerships to strengthen domestic capability.

The Javelin anti tank missile provides a useful example.

In November 2025, the United States approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to India covering up to 100 FGM 148 Javelin rounds, 25 command launch units and associated support at an estimated maximum value of $45.7 million. In August 2026, the Indian Army signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the Javelin system through the American Foreign Military Sales process.

Days later, Tata Advanced Systems and the Javelin Joint Venture formed by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin signed an agreement to explore production of the Javelin All Up Round in India.

The proposal includes potential final assembly, integration and component manufacturing within India.

This progression is strategically important.

The relationship can move from purchase to industrial cooperation, from industrial cooperation to technology absorption, and potentially from domestic production to participation in wider supply chains.

Defence diplomacy therefore becomes a bridge between foreign policy and industrial policy.

Where DAP 2020 Fits Into the Picture

The Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 created an important domestic foundation for this transition.

DAP 2020 placed greater emphasis on indigenous procurement, higher domestic content, Indian design and manufacturing, technology development and opportunities for domestic industry.

Subsequent changes strengthened the preference for indigenous sourcing and simplified procurement pathways linked to innovation.

But DAP primarily addresses how India acquires defence capability.

RAKSHA operates on another layer. It can help determine how defence relationships are used internationally.

The two therefore complement each other.

DAP can strengthen the domestic demand side of India’s defence industrial base. RAKSHA can help build the international relationships required to expand the external market for Indian products.

If both systems function effectively, India can create a cycle in which domestic procurement supports manufacturing scale, manufacturing creates export capacity and exports deepen strategic partnerships.

Where iDEX Fits Into the Strategy

The Innovations for Defence Excellence initiative adds another piece to this ecosystem.

Launched in 2018, iDEX was designed to connect the armed forces with start ups, MSMEs, innovators, research institutions and academia to develop new defence and aerospace technologies. It provides funding and institutional support for technologies with potential military application.

The next challenge is international scale.

An Indian defence start up may successfully develop a drone, sensor, electronic warfare system or autonomous platform for domestic forces. But becoming a global defence company requires market access, regulatory support, demonstrations, foreign trials and connections with partner militaries.

This is another area where defence diplomacy can create economic value.

Military exercises can provide visibility. Strategic partnerships can create testing and cooperation opportunities. Government relationships can increase buyer confidence. Defence attaches and diplomatic missions can help identify requirements.

RAKSHA could therefore provide the foreign policy bridge that India’s growing defence innovation ecosystem increasingly needs.

Why Operation Sindoor Matters to the Debate

RAKSHA also emerges after Operation Sindoor, which reinforced the policy focus on military preparedness, technology and resilient domestic defence supply chains.

The Ministry of Defence placed Operation Sindoor alongside the broader push for self reliance in its assessment of India’s defence transformation. The experience strengthened the argument that strategic autonomy is not simply a diplomatic principle. It depends on the ability to produce, maintain and replenish critical military capability.

A country that depends excessively on external suppliers can face constraints during a prolonged crisis.

But complete technological isolation is equally unrealistic.

The more practical model is selective interdependence.

India can develop critical technologies domestically while using partnerships for co development, co production, supply chain diversification and access to specialised capabilities.

RAKSHA provides a diplomatic framework through which those relationships can be managed.

The Governance Challenge Begins Now

Publishing a ten year roadmap is easier than implementing one.

Defence diplomacy involves the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, armed forces, defence public sector enterprises, private companies, regulators, research institutions and Indian missions abroad.

Without coordination, these institutions can pursue different priorities.

A strategically important partner may require training support, an export credit arrangement, military exercises and industrial cooperation at the same time. If each request moves through a separate administrative channel, opportunities can be lost.

RAKSHA therefore needs measurable priorities.

India should identify important partner countries, define the objectives of each defence relationship and connect military engagement with industrial opportunities.

Export diplomacy must also extend beyond signing contracts. India needs credible systems for maintenance, spare parts, training and upgrades if it wants to be viewed as a dependable defence supplier.

Finally, defence exports must remain consistent with India’s foreign policy interests and international responsibilities. Commercial success should support strategic policy rather than drive it blindly.

The Larger UPSC Takeaway

RAKSHA represents a broader change in how India thinks about national power.

Military capability, foreign policy and industrial capacity are becoming increasingly interconnected.

The Defence Acquisition Procedure encourages domestic procurement. iDEX supports technological innovation. Private and public manufacturers are increasing production. BrahMos exports are expanding India’s presence in foreign defence markets. International partnerships such as the Javelin arrangement can create new opportunities for manufacturing and technology cooperation.

RAKSHA attempts to place these developments within a diplomatic framework.

Its success will therefore not be measured by the number of military delegations India hosts or agreements it signs.

The real test will be whether defence relationships generate durable strategic influence, strengthen Indian industry, improve partner capacity and support India’s security interests.

For decades, India possessed defence partnerships.

RAKSHA represents an attempt to turn those partnerships into a more coherent instrument of national strategy.