India, Czech Republic expand defence ties

New Delhi Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held talks with Czech Republic Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Karel Havlicek in New Delhi, reviewing bilateral defence industrial cooperation and agreeing to expand collaboration in the sector. The meeting comes as India seeks to strengthen domestic defence manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative while expanding partnerships with international partners. Both sides reviewed progress in existing defence industry collaborations and expressed satisfaction with the performance of joint ventures involving Indian and Czech entities. Singh said the discussions focused on building on the achievements of these partnerships and widening cooperation through the India-Czech Joint Defence Committee. The mechanism is expected to support further engagement between the two countries in defence production and industrial collaboration. "Had a wonderful meeting with the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Karel Havlicek in New Delhi today," Singh said in a post on X. He added that both sides had acknowledged progress in joint ventures and agreed to deepen collaboration to advance India's domestic defence manufacturing objectives. India has increasingly emphasised indigenous production of military equipment, technology development and industrial partnerships as part of its broader defence strategy. Cooperation with international partners can provide opportunities for technology exchange, manufacturing collaboration and strengthening domestic industrial capabilities. In separate remarks earlier in October, Singh highlighted the changing nature of modern warfare, saying military operations now extend beyond conventional land, sea and air domains to include space, cyberspace, the electromagnetic spectrum and information operations.