RAKSHA: India’s 10-year blueprint for defence diplomacy and global strategic partnerships
The Ministry of Defence released "RAKSHA," a 10-year strategic blueprint (2026–2036) for India's defence diplomacy
The document seeks to integrate defence diplomacy more closely with India's wider foreign policy, economic interests, and national security objectives
It is structured around four pillars: strategic partnerships, capacity building (joint exercises, training, and exchange of best practices), indigenous defence exports (promoting Make in India platforms), and maritime security (strengthening India's role as a Net Security Provider and First Responder in the Indian Ocean Region)
The blueprint signals a shift toward a more proactive, decade-long framework for India's international defence engagement, aiming to position the country as a reliable global defence-manufacturing hub
Defence Diplomacy and Article 51 (Directive Principles of State Policy)
Defence diplomacy refers to the peacetime use of armed forces and defence resources — joint exercises, training exchanges, defence attaches, arms transfers — as instruments of foreign policy, distinct from war-fighting. In India's constitutional scheme, this activity finds a normative anchor in Part IV's Directive Principles.
Key Details
- Article 51 (DPSP) directs the State to: (a) promote international peace and security; (b) maintain just and honourable relations between nations; (c) foster respect for international law and treaty obligations; and (d) encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration
- Article 51 is the final article of Part IV and the only Directive Principle oriented entirely outward, toward foreign relations
- DPSPs are non-justiciable (not enforceable in court) but are fundamental in governance under Article 37
RAKSHA operationalises the Article 51 mandate by using structured defence partnerships — rather than purely diplomatic channels — to pursue "just and honourable relations" and regional stability.
Net Security Provider (NSP) Doctrine and the Indian Ocean Region
"Net Security Provider" describes India's self-articulated role of providing security assistance (anti-piracy patrols, disaster relief, capacity building) to Indian Ocean littoral and island states, first prominently used by Indian leadership in the mid-2010s security discourse around the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
Key Details
- The doctrine complements India's SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision, articulated in 2015
- It covers Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), maritime domain awareness, anti-piracy operations, and coast guard/naval capacity building for IOR states such as Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and Sri Lanka
- India also chairs/participates in regional maritime mechanisms such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and the Colombo Security Conclave
RAKSHA's "maritime security" pillar formalises the NSP/SAGAR approach as one of four core planks of India's decade-long defence diplomacy strategy.
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) and the Procurement Framework
The DAC is the highest decision-making body in the Ministry of Defence for capital acquisitions and defence procurement policy, relevant to how India's growing defence-export ambitions under RAKSHA are institutionally processed.
Key Details
- DAC was constituted in 2001 on the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee and the Group of Ministers, following procurement failures exposed during the 1999 Kargil conflict
- Chaired by the Union Defence Minister; grants "Acceptance of Necessity" (AoN), the first formal step in any capital acquisition
- Operates under the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP), currently DAP-2020, which lays down procurement categories: Buy (Indian-IDDM — Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured), Buy and Make, and Make
- The government has progressively issued "Positive Indigenisation Lists" restricting import of specified defence items to boost domestic manufacturing
RAKSHA's indigenous-exports pillar builds on the same domestic manufacturing push (Buy Indian-IDDM, Positive Indigenisation Lists) that the DAC framework has driven since DAP-2020, extending it outward into an export strategy.
India's Defence Exports Trajectory
Defence exports are a key metric UPSC uses to test India's shift from being one of the world's largest arms importers to an emerging exporter.
Key Details
- India's defence exports touched a then-record ₹23,622 crore in FY2024–25, a 12.04% rise over the previous year, with the private sector contributing about 64% (₹15,233 crore) and DPSUs the remainder
- Exports reached roughly 80 countries in FY2024–25, with the United States, France, and Armenia among the top destinations (Armenia has been a major buyer of finished systems like 155mm artillery guns, Akash air defence missiles, and Pinaka multi-launch rocket systems)
- The government has set a defence production target of ₹3 lakh crore by 2029, of which exports are meant to be a growing share
- A subsequent figure of ₹38,424 crore in defence exports has been reported for FY2025–26 [Unverified — single source, not cross-checked]
The export-growth trend underpins RAKSHA's "Indigenous Defence Exports" pillar, which seeks to convert India's rising defence-manufacturing base into a sustained diplomatic and economic instrument over the next decade.
- RAKSHA released: September 3, 2026, by the Ministry of Defence; covers the period 2026–2036
- Four pillars: Strategic Partnerships, Capacity Building, Indigenous Defence Exports, Maritime Security
- Defence production target: ₹3 lakh crore by 2029
- Defence exports (FY2024–25, record at the time): ₹23,622 crore, to about 80 countries
- DAC constituted: 2001, post-Kargil Review Committee; operates under DAP-2020
- Article 51 (DPSP): four sub-clauses on international peace, just relations, international law, and arbitration