India, Russia, Indonesia agree on pricing of BrahMos deal
New Delhi and Jakarta have been negotiating the supply of the cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia for more than seven years
New Delhi: India, Russia and Indonesia have agreed on the pricing for a deal to supply BrahMos cruise missiles to the Indonesian armed forces ahead of President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to New Delhi as chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations, people familiar with the matter said.
New Delhi and Jakarta have been negotiating the supply of the cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia for more than seven years, and Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state organisation for weapons exports, has been part of the negotiations as Moscow has to sign off on all BrahMos deals. The three sides have now agreed on a deal worth $450 million, two persons familiar with the talks said on condition of anonymity.
The Indian side is expected to make an official announcement on Thursday about Prabowo’s visit to participate in the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. The people did not rule out the possibility of some formal announcement about the BrahMos missile deal during Prabowo’s trip.
Several formal procedures are yet to be completed by the Indian and Russian sides and financing for the contract is still being finalised, the people said, indicating that the final deal could be several months down the road.
Once the deal is done, Indonesia will become the second foreign customer for the BrahMos, which is named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers and is manufactured by the Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace. The Philippines concluded a deal worth $375 million to acquire three batteries of BrahMos cruise missiles, giving a shot in the arm to New Delhi’s efforts to emerge as an exporter of major defence hardware.
In recent years, the Indonesian side has insisted on transfer of technology related to the missile to ensure that it would not face any shortage of spares and components. The demand was raised after other countries that purchased Russian military equipment faced delays in acquiring spares because of Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The proposed deal with Indonesia was also affected by the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the people said.
A team from BrahMos Aerospace visited the state-run PT PAL shipyard in Surabaya in 2018 to assess the fitting of the missile on Indonesian warships. Besides the BrahMos, India has offered to supply coastal defence radars and marine grade steel to Indonesia, and to service Russian-made Su-30 combat jets flown by the Indonesian Air Force.
Under Indonesia’s previous president Joko Widodo, the country significantly stepped up naval cooperation with India, including joint exercises and port visits by warships, as part of Jakarta’s focus on maritime security across the Indian Ocean. Prabowo, a former army general who served in the special forces, is widely expected to continue to expand military and maritime security cooperation with India.