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The Raksha Mantri released 'RAKSHA', a document setting out India's defence diplomacy roadmap for the next ten years.
It rests on four pillars: strategic partnerships, capacity building, indigenous exports and maritime security.
It positions India as a Net Security Provider and First Responder in the Indian Ocean Region.
The release was attended by the service Vice Chiefs, the Defence Secretary and officials of the MEA and the National Security Council Secretariat.
The peacetime use of armed forces and defence institutions as instruments of foreign policy — joint exercises, training foreign officers, port calls, defence attachés, equipment sales and staff talks. It builds influence and interoperability without the use of force, which is why a document like RAKSHA sits between the Defence and External Affairs ministries.
Simple Analogy: The military doing the work of diplomacy rather than of war.
Bring startups, MSMEs and innovators into defence and aerospace development.
Key: Launched in April 2018, it funds and procures from non-traditional suppliers, feeding the indigenous industrial base that the export pillar depends on.
Establish India as a defence manufacturing and export hub.
Key: The government targets Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports and Rs 3 lakh crore in domestic defence production by 2029 — the concrete numbers behind RAKSHA's 'Indigenous Exports' pillar.
Issues RAKSHA and runs defence diplomacy alongside the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Ministry's apex body for capital acquisition proposals, chaired by the Defence Minister; it approves the procurements that build the platforms India then exports.
Service officers posted in Indian embassies and high commissions who manage military-to-military ties, training exchanges and equipment promotion in the host country.
Heads the Integrated Defence Staff, coordinating tri-service planning and international defence cooperation.
GS Paper 2 > International Relations; GS Paper 3 > Security
General Awareness > Defence Affairs
A state that supplies security as a public good in its region — anti-piracy patrols, disaster relief and maritime domain awareness — rather than only defending itself.
The country expected to reach a regional crisis first, particularly for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the Indian Ocean Region.
A service officer posted to a diplomatic mission to handle military-to-military relations with the host state.