New Delhi: Argentina is keen on buying a wide range of military hardware from India as it continues to negotiate the proposals to procure Tejas fighter planes, military choppers and BRAHMOS missiles from New Delhi, says Hugo Javier Gobbi, the Ambassador of Argentina to India.
He said bilateral relations between India and Argentina were elevated to the level of a Strategic Partnership in 2019 and both sides have been since working towards enhancing the defence and security partnership between them.
The envoy told a TV channel that bilateral relations between India and Argentina were elevated to the level of a Strategic Partnership in 2019 and both sides have been since working towards enhancing the defence and security partnership between them. Under this strategic partnership, Argentina has for the first time shown interest in acquiring India’s indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA).
“Tejas aeroplanes are very much under consideration (by Argentine Air Force) … The talks on procuring Tejas are progressing very much between India and Argentina. This is a complex area… We have signed agreements with HAL on maintenance of helicopters. There is a lot of interest in helicopters and that area is evolving very fast,” said Gobbi.
The envoy, however, said the only hurdle facing the deal is the presence of British components in these fighter planes. India has offered the Tejas Mk1 aircraft without the British parts in them but the customisation will be done only when Argentina places the final order for a proposed batch of 16 fighters.
“Argentina is seeing India as a partner for the development of Argentina’s military base and as a new source for buying military equipment, so there is a lot of talk on cooperation in the defence industry and a lot of significant projects are being studied,” the envoy said.
The Argentine Air Force is also looking at JF-17 fighters, which has been jointly developed by China and Pakistan, US F-16, MiG-35 of Russia, and South Korea’s FA-50. Argentina and the United Kingdom are engaged in a territorial dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, a disputed archipelago in the South Atlantic. As a result, Argentina cannot buy arms that have British parts in them.
“There are some technical difficulties not linked to the aeroplanes but linked to some components and that can be a great difficulty… These are very complex and difficult negotiations,” he said, adding that India will find a way to develop and induct ‘Made in India’ components in the planes.
India is also in talks with Argentina to export the Dhruv advanced light helicopters (ALH) and BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missiles.
According to Gobbi, Argentina is now looking at India seriously for procuring defence platforms because the South American country believes India is “an autonomous player in the international field”.
“That has to be taken into account. India is a leader in the Global South and Argentina is a very important player in the Global South and in Latin America. So there are complementarities. Both countries have autonomous views of what is significant in the world, so the possibilities of partnership are immense,” he said.
India and Argentina are also engaged in civil nuclear deal talks under the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.
The Argentine envoy also highlighted that Buenos Aires is satisfied with India’s G20 agenda as New Delhi has kept the focus on developmental issues that are significant for the Global South.
“The agenda allows the G20 to move forward on issues of significance to us… India has managed to move forward the G20 making us really feel as ‘One Family’ without putting any limitations due to the great powers confrontation. It has been able to save the G20 process,” said Gobbi.
Argentina, which is a member of the G20, will be represented by their President Alberto Fernandez at the upcoming Leaders’ Summit that India will be hosting on September 9-10.
