Defence & Strategic Affairs

From Strategic Partnership to Strategic Action

India and Germany are developing a Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap to promote long-term industry-level collaboration, including technology partnerships, co-development and co-production of defence platforms and equipment. The January 2026 Joint Declaration of Intent — signed alongside the semiconductor and critical minerals agreements — signals a qualitative shift: from strategic dialogue to industrial partnership.

Operationally, Germany is deepening its Indo-Pacific military engagement. It will participate in Naval Exercise MILAN and the 9th Indian Ocean Naval Symposium in 2026, and deploy a Liaison Officer to India’s Information Fusion Centre — Indian Ocean Region. Cooperation between DRDO and OCCAR on the Eurodrone MALE UAV programme represents the most technologically ambitious bilateral defence project to date.

The High Defence Committee, meeting regularly since 2024, provides the institutional backbone. India’s External Affairs Minister’s 2025 visit to Germany explicitly reframed the partnership as one that must “change along with the world” through technology, maritime security, and defence production. Both countries have reaffirmed their commitment to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, UNCLOS, and international law.

For a gemeinnütziger Verein, defence research requires careful positioning — GIF’s contribution is in the dual-use technology and industrial cooperation dimensions, where civilian innovation and strategic capability intersect. This is where the think tank adds value: not in security operations, but in the industrial, technological, and economic architecture of the defence partnership.

Research Agenda

• Question 1 What are the realistic near-term opportunities for defence industrial cooperation between India and Germany — which platforms, which technologies, which procurement pathways?
• Question 2 How does dual-use technology transfer serve both civilian innovation and strategic capability — and how should IP management, export controls, and licensing be structured to enable rather than obstruct bilateral collaboration?
• Question 3 What role can German private sector companies (beyond the traditional defence primes) play in Indo-German defence collaboration — particularly in sensors, communications, cybersecurity, and autonomous systems?
• Question 4 How does the Indo-Pacific framework shape bilateral security ties — and what institutional mechanisms (beyond the High Defence Committee) would deepen operational and strategic coordination?

Tagged Publications

• Policy Brief “The Defence Industrial Cooperation Roadmap: Turning a Declaration of Intent into a Pipeline of Projects”
• Commentary “Germany in the Indian Ocean: What MILAN, IONS, and IFC-IOR Mean for Bilateral Security”
• Commentary “Dual-Use Technology as a Bridge: Civilian Innovation Meets Strategic Capability in the India-Germany Partnership”

Linked Events

• Policy Dialogue “Defence Industrial Cooperation: From Roadmap to Reality” — with defence ministry officials, industry representatives from both countries, and dual-use technology researchers
• Boardroom “Indo-Pacific Strategy for German Industry” — invite-only for German C-suite executives whose supply chains, markets, or security exposure require Indo-Pacific literacy

Research Fellow