Abstract:
Despite its indigenous advancement in missile defence, India is not capable of meeting the immediate threat from nuclear attacks. This delay has resulted in the need for acquisitions of missile defence from the leading international players in the respective systems. This paper looks into the missile defence and interception technology which is available at the international level and looks into India’s missile defence programme and its possible collaboration with international players namely Israel, Russia and the United States, in terms of both acquisition of technical know-how and ready-made systems. Further, it analyses the changing Indian policy on missile defence programme amidst positive developments in Indo-US relations that took place in the post-Cold War period, mainly during the Bush regime. Finally, it concludes that given the strengthening Indo-US defence and military relationship and convergences of geo-strategic and geo-economic interests, the growing threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and threat from nuclear weapons going into the hands of rouge states and states with poor nuclear non-proliferation records has been guiding the Indo-US courtship in the missile defence arena. In the coming years, missile defence will emerge as one of the most important components of the Indo-US strategic relationship.