Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released the RAKSHA defence diplomacy document in New Delhi on 3 September 2026. The framework lays out India’s vision for global defence partnerships for the next 10 years. It links military cooperation directly with record defence exports and Make in India manufacturing to position India as a trusted global supplier.
What Is Defence Diplomacy and What Is the RAKSHA Framework?
Defence diplomacy means the peaceful use of military resources, contacts and expertise to build trust and support foreign policy goals. It is also called military diplomacy in some contexts. It includes high level visits, defence cooperation agreements, joint military exercises, training of foreign officers, port calls by warships, humanitarian assistance and dialogue on security issues.
The term was first formally used by the British Ministry of Defence in its 1998 Strategic Defence Review. That review described it as work to remove hostility, build trust and help partner nations develop accountable armed forces. For India, the Ministry of Defence Annual Reports have long described defence cooperation as an important part of diplomacy to strengthen bilateral ties with friendly foreign countries.
RAKSHA is India’s first consolidated public blueprint that brings these activities under one clear strategy. It was released by the Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh, who heads the Ministry of Defence (Raksha Mantralaya). The Ministry is headquartered at South Block in New Delhi and works through five departments, which are the Department of Defence, the Department of Military Affairs, the Department of Defence Production, the Department of Defence Research and Development and the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare. Senior officials present at the release included Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Rudrendra Tandon, Chief of the Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth and senior officers from the Navy, Air Force, Integrated Defence Staff and National Security Council Secretariat.
The central idea of RAKSHA is that defence diplomacy should no longer remain limited to ceremonial exchanges and routine exercises. It should become outcome oriented and closely linked with India’s wider foreign policy, economic interests and national security objectives. The document therefore provides an actionable vision to ensure India remains an anchor of peace, stability and a rules based order.
Four Pillars of the RAKSHA Defence Diplomacy Strategy
RAKSHA rests on four connected pillars. Together, they link strategic engagement with industry, training and maritime action. The table below summarises what each pillar covers.
| Pillar | What It Involves |
|---|---|
| Strategic Partnerships | Deepening bilateral and multilateral security cooperation, defence cooperation agreements, service level staff talks and regular defence dialogues |
| Capacity Building | Expanding joint military exercises, training programmes for foreign personnel, military education, professional exchanges and sharing of best practices |
| Indigenous Exports | Promoting Make in India defence platforms and technologies to establish India as a reliable global manufacturing hub |
| Maritime Security | Strengthening India’s role as a Net Security Provider and First Responder in the Indian Ocean Region |
The first pillar focuses on building long term partnerships where India’s interests and those of partner countries meet. In recent years India has expanded defence engagement across the Indo-Pacific, Europe, West Asia, Africa and other regions. RAKSHA gives these ties a common direction by connecting government to government talks, military to military cooperation and industry linkages.
The second pillar treats training and exercises as tools to build lasting trust. Training programmes for foreign officers have long been a quiet strength of India’s outreach, as many senior officers in partner countries have trained in Indian institutions. Going forward, cooperation is expected to grow through joint training, military education, institutional partnerships and better interoperability between forces. Such ties help armed forces work together during operations, relief missions and patrols.
RAKSHA, Make in India and Record Defence Exports and Production
The third pillar is the economic engine of RAKSHA. It makes defence industrial cooperation and exports a direct instrument of foreign policy. The logic is simple. When India co-develops, co-produces and supplies equipment to a partner, the relationship becomes deeper and more durable than a buyer seller deal.
This pillar is integrated with the Make in India initiative, which was launched globally in September 2014 to promote India as a preferred manufacturing destination. In defence, it is supported by the Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020, Positive Indigenisation Lists that restrict import of selected items, Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) launched in April 2018 for startups and small firms, two defence industrial corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and liberalised foreign direct investment norms that allow up to 74 percent through the automatic route.
The results are now visible in hard numbers. India’s annual defence production reached an all time high of ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY 2025-26. This was a growth of 15.6 percent over ₹1.54 lakh crore in FY 2024-25 and a rise of 110 percent since ₹84,643 crore in FY 2020-21. Production has grown almost four times from about ₹43,746 crore in FY 2013-14. In FY 2025-26, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) and other public units accounted for about 76 percent of production, while the private sector contributed about 24 percent, which is its highest ever share at nearly ₹42,000 crore.
Exports have grown even faster. Defence exports touched a record ₹38,424 crore in FY 2025-26, a jump of 62.66 percent over ₹23,622 crore in FY 2024-25. DPSU exports rose by 151 percent in the year to ₹21,071 crore, while private firms exported ₹17,353 crore. India now exports defence equipment to more than 80 countries, including the United States, France and Armenia, and the number of exporters rose from 128 to 145. A decade ago, exports were less than ₹1,000 crore, with only ₹686 crore in FY 2013-14. The government has set a target of ₹3 lakh crore in production and ₹50,000 crore in exports by 2029. RAKSHA is expected to help reach that goal by opening doors for Indian companies, building buyer confidence and using government to government engagement to support deals in artillery systems, missiles, ammunition, patrol vessels, radars and electronic systems.
Maritime Security Role as Net Security Provider and First Responder
The fourth pillar focuses on the sea, where India’s geography gives it a natural advantage. A Net Security Provider is a country whose navy and agencies help keep the shared maritime space safe and stable for all users. A First Responder is the country that reaches first with help during a crisis at sea or a natural disaster. India seeks to play both roles in the Indian Ocean Region, which stretches from the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea to the Malacca Strait and the east coast of Africa.
This vision builds on existing practice. The Indian Navy conducts mission based deployments across critical sea lanes, carries out anti piracy patrols under Operation Sankalp, and leads humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions. Between December 2023 and March 2024 alone, the Navy responded to 18 incidents and played a central role in actions such as the operation against the hijacking of MV Ruen. The Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), set up by India at Gurugram on 22 December 2018, shares white shipping information with partner nations and has built linkages with 28 countries. India also works through platforms such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and the Colombo Security Conclave.
The policy roots of this role run deep. The idea was first encouraged internationally when the United States said in 2009 that it looked to India to be a net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated in 2013 that India was well positioned to become a net provider of security in its immediate region. The Navy’s Indian Maritime Security Strategy 2015 then clarified the concept, and later visions such as SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), launched in 2015, and MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions), extended in 2025, gave it political direction. RAKSHA now ties this maritime role directly to defence diplomacy by linking naval presence, information sharing, capacity support for littoral states and cooperation to counter piracy, smuggling, illegal fishing and maritime terrorism.
Significance for India’s Global Partnerships and the Way Forward
RAKSHA matters because it brings coherence to many separate strands of engagement. Defence cooperation agreements, joint exercises such as Exercise Shakti with France and Exercise Tarang Shakti, staff talks, training slots, port calls and industry roadmaps will now work within one ten year direction. This helps partner countries understand what India offers over the long term and helps Indian agencies plan budgets, production and deployments with greater certainty.
For the economy, defence diplomacy can lower the entry barrier for Indian firms in foreign markets. Government backing, trial opportunities, lines of credit and maintenance packages often decide export contests. For security, regular exercises and information sharing improve the ability to act together during piracy incidents, natural disasters and evacuation operations. For foreign policy, supply relationships and training ties create durable goodwill that lasts beyond a single deal or visit.
The road ahead will depend on implementation. Key tasks include faster clearances for exports through the revamped online portal and simplified standard operating procedures of the Department of Defence Production, steady progress on co-development and co-production with countries such as France, Germany and the United States, expansion of maintenance and life cycle support for exported systems, and continued investment in naval capability, surveillance and domestic engines and sensors where import dependence remains. The framework also sits alongside the wider India European Union Security and Defence Partnership and bilateral roadmaps that stress niche technologies and military to military cooperation. If these steps move together, the ten year blueprint can strengthen India’s position both as a regional security partner and as a growing defence manufacturing and exporting power.
Key Takeaways
- RAKSHA defence diplomacy document was released by Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on 3 September 2026 as a 10 year roadmap.
- RAKSHA is built on four pillars, which are Strategic Partnerships, Capacity Building, Indigenous Exports and Maritime Security.
- India’s defence production reached a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY 2025-26, while defence exports reached a record ₹38,424 crore in the same year.
- India has set a target of ₹3 lakh crore in defence production and ₹50,000 crore in exports by 2029 under Make in India, launched in September 2014.
- The framework strengthens India’s role as a Net Security Provider and First Responder in the Indian Ocean Region, supported by the IFC-IOR at Gurugram established in 2018.
