Context: For the first time, India will post defence attaches in several countries including Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Philippines, Armenia and Poland in line with its broader policy initiative to expand strategic ties with key regions, a move that comes amid renewed geopolitical rivalries.

Key highlights

• The development also signals India’s growing focus on Africa where New Delhi has ratcheted up military engagement and is keen on expanding strategic ties amid China’s increased presence on the continent.

• India has started dispatching defence attachés to many new countries, while reportedly downsizing the military personnel at its missions in some other nations.

• 15-16 new attaches from the Indian Navy, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Army are being posted to Poland, the Philippines, Armenia, and the African countries of Tanzania, Mozambique, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Ivory Coast.

• This comes after “some rationalisation” by reducing the number of military officials in the other large missions in Russia, the United Kingdom and France.

• With this, New Delhi aims to expand its strategic ties with these countries while also pushing arms exports. The military officers freed up through rationalisation will be deployed to the countries that have become more significant in defence and security cooperation.

Why the other countries matter?

• India dispatching a defence attaché to Poland, which is a part of the European Union (EU) and has emerged as an important security partner in Europe in recent years, is also significant.

• The EU posted a military attaché to its mission in India for the first time last year. India’s move to do the same in Poland is “reflective of the desire to expand two-way defence ties”.

• Armenia has become a major exporter of India’s arms. New Delhi has already inked deals with the Asian country for Pinaka rockets, Akash missiles, ammunition and multi-barrel rocket launchers, with some of them coming amid Armenia’s clash with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia has shown interest in expanding its defence ties with India.

• China’s military assertiveness in the South China Sea has prompted India to grow military ties with ASEAN countries. India’s decision to send defence attachés for the first time to the Philippines comes in the wake of the sale of Indian arms to Manila.

• India signed a $375 million deal with the Philippines in 2022 to supply three batteries of the BrahMos missile. New Delhi will soon start the delivery of the missiles to the Southeast Asian country.

About Defence Attache (DA)

• A DA is a member of the armed forces who serves in an embassy as a representative of his/her country’s defence establishment abroad.

• DA is a generic term that covers personnel from all branches of the armed services, although some larger countries may appoint a DA to represent an individual service branch, such as an air force or naval attaché.

• It is the DAs job to protect, develop, and promote the defence interests of their country in the nation they are assigned, as well as in bilateral military and defence relations.

• Some DAs are deployed to work on specific issues, like migration, and they can also serve as part of a military mission with organisations such as NATO, the EU, or the UN.

• If serving on such military deployments, DAs usually operate as the head of the mission or a military adviser, with these assignments usually multilateral.

The Diplomatic Status of the DA

• The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, provides immunity to persons according to their rank in a diplomatic mission. It defines the legal status of the DA.

• Under the Convention, DAs are considered members of the diplomatic staff, enjoying full immunity.