Belgium, latest EU state cautioned by India over arms for Pakistan; gets assurances from Brussels

Belgium has assured India it will not pursue defence engagement with Pakistan, Indian officials said, after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh raised the issue with his Belgian counterpart, Theo Francken, in New Delhi on Thursday. The assurance came as Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever paid the first visit by a Belgian head of government to India in two decades, accompanied by Francken and a large industrial delegation. Ten agreements between Belgian and Indian defence firms were due to be signed, covering ammunition plants, naval mine-hunting systems, rockets, electro-optical sights and other equipment.

Officials said Singh used the meeting to press a point New Delhi has made repeatedly to European partners: that closer industrial ties with India should not sit alongside military co-operation with Pakistan, which India accuses of backing cross-border terrorism. Pakistan based terrorists have been responsible for number of terror attacks in India. Belgium is the latest country to receive that caution after similar messages were delivered to Japan, the Netherlands and Italy.

During Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s visit to Delhi last month, India urged Japan to keep advanced defence technology out of Pakistani hands, citing the legacy of the A.Q. Khan network and past nuclear and missile transfers to Pyongyang. Defence minister Singh told Francken that the two countries had “the potential to further expand their partnership amid a period of great geopolitical and economic turmoil”. “The world is witnessing a time of great geopolitical and economic turmoil. Most of it is not our doing, but we have to handle the challenges. In such situations, meeting a friend and partner like you provides a useful opportunity to exchange views and perspectives,” he said.

A Belgian government note issued with the visit set out the industrial package. Liège firm New Lachaussée is to supply Tembo Classic Engineering with a production line capable of about 100 million rounds of ammunition a year, a project valued at €50 million. Exail Belgium will provide autonomous mine-countermeasure “toolboxes” for vessels being built by Larsen & Toubro; the first phase covers 12 ships and could grow. Thales Belgium will assemble 70mm rockets in India with Kalyani Strategic Systems, with the first fully Indian-made rocket expected in early 2027.

Other talks involve FN Herstal on weapons and counter-drone systems, Pitagone on vehicle barriers, drone-maker Sol.One, OIP Sensor Systems on sights for the Arjun tank, John Cockerill Defense on a turret for the high-altitude Zorawar light tank, visualisation firm Octave with Bharat Electronics, and marine-engine maker Anglo Belgian Corporation with Kirloskar. India wants technology and co-production under its Make in India drive while trying to limit European hardware and know-how reaching Islamabad.