India Expands List of Countries For Arms Exports

The Indian MoD has formulated a Defence Export Strategy and also a Standard Operating Procedure for issuing ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) for export of ‘military stores’.

Since 2008, the directorate general of foreign trade has empowered the department of defence production to issue the NOC.

In the last three years and the current year, 2014-15, NOCs for sale of materiel to 55 countries were granted. They include as diverse a group of countries as Algeria, Libya, Germany, Namibia, Italy, Gabon etc.

The list of countries India exports 'military stores' are: Algeria, Benin, Nigeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Japan, Afghanistan, Spain, Nepal, Belgium, Malaysia, Norway, Romania, Port of Spain, Venezuela, France, Vietnam, UK, UAE, Bangladesh, Ghana, Sweden, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Israel, Republic of Korea, Macau, Oman, Tunisia, Libya, Nuevo Leon, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Uruguay, Netherland, Canada, Russia, USA, Namibia, Indonesia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Switzerland, Czech, Kenya, Botswana, Tajikistan, Singapore, Ireland, Italy, Gabon and Turkey.

The above information was given as part of a reply to a question posed by a parliamentarian in India.

India has a policy of not being aggressive on defence exports and actual figures are less than 50 million a year. Most if it is of ammunition of India's largely Soviet era weaponry.