Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian met with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on Tuesday on the sidelines of the AERO-India 2025 arms exhibition held in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru. One of Papikian’s deputies, Karen Brutian, held separate there with India’s State Minister of Defense Sanjay Seth on Wednesday.
In an X post, Singh described the talks with Papikian as “productive.” He said they “reviewed the significant progress made in our bilateral defense ties and both agreed to further deepen collaboration.”
The Armenian Defense Ministry likewise said that they discussed “opportunities for expanding Armenia-India cooperation in the defense sector.” It did not report concrete agreements reached by the two ministers. In a statement, the ministry said that Aram Jivanian, the head of Armenia’s Military-Industrial Committee overseeing the domestic defense industry, was also present at he meeting.
India has been one of Armenia’s leading arms suppliers since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh war during which its arch-foe Pakistan strongly supported Azerbaijan. Their multimillion-dollar defense contracts reportedly call for the delivery of Indian surface-to-air missiles, multiple-launch rocket systems, howitzers, and anti-drone equipment to the Armenian army. According to Indian media reports, the total volume of those contracts reached $600 million by the end of 2023.
In May 2024, Indian and Armenian military officials set up a “working group” tasked with implementing a plan of joint actions for 2024 and 2025. The military cooperation will involve not only arms supplies but also military education, “tactical training” and “experience sharing,” according to the Defense Ministry in Yerevan.
Russia had long been Armenia’s principal supplier of weapons and ammunition. The Armenian government has been looking for alternative sources of weaponry due to its growing tensions with Moscow and the continuing war in Ukraine that absorbs the bulk of military hardware manufactured in Russia. Since October 2023, Yerevan has also signed a number of arms deals with French companies.