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Maggie Feldman-Piltch, Founder and Managing Director of Unicorn Strategies, has all the praise for India's 'Make In India' initiative for defence production and its growing partnership with the United States.
She emphasized the lessons India can draw from transatlantic security cooperation and the critical role of international collaborations in strengthening India's defence technology sector. In an ANI exclusive, she said, "The Make in India initiative makes sense and is in line with a great deal of the trends we see around the world, particularly in Europe." Feldman-Piltch highlighted that Europe has been actively discussing the need for balancing defence production, a topic resonating globally. She pointed out that India, despite being the largest democracy and the world's biggest importer of defence equipment in 2023, has a relatively low level of defence manufacturing. "The balancing act is not easy--you need to secure your own interests while maintaining good relations with allies," she remarked, underscoring the importance of navigating self-reliance in defence while upholding commitments to democratic partnerships." Feldman-Piltch stressed that India's push for Indigenous defence manufacturing under 'Make in India' mirrors similar initiatives in the US and Europe. She said, "I think India has the benefit of watching the US, watching NATO nations, really, watching a number of other democracies are a few years ahead in this balancing act." She added, "Certainly, conversations that India and the US have been having on the trade and innovation front through our Departments of Defence, and ministries of defence, historically, have been quite fruitful, and I would imagine that they will continue to be so. I think there, there's a lot of reasons for opportunity and for positivity, and I think making India, makes sense." Feldman-Piltch acknowledged the deepening India-US defence relationship, particularly in joint military exercises and key agreements like BECA. She outlined the next steps that could further strengthen this partnership, focusing on increasing 'mill-mill engagement'--military-to-military exchanges. She said, "Over the last few years, we've seen a real both strengthening and deepening of the US India military relationship, and certainly that means things like collaboration on research and development, on joint exercises." She compared such engagements to student exchange programs, explaining that militaries frequently send personnel for official training. Beyond military exchanges, she advocated for expanded collaborations across civilian security institutions, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies. "Over the last 10-12, years or so, laying the basis, the foundation, through trade and investment and innovation conversations, has started to build some of that trust, yes, at the institutional level, a bit at the industry level, and the joint exercises is most certainly building interoperability, comfort working together," she stated. (ANI)
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