Within days of hostilities between India and Pakistan, weapons suppliers around the world began to evaluate the efficacy of alternative weapons platforms.
First, Anglo News Agency, Reuters reported on the landing of the French fighter gust, which has now become part of the Indian Air Force Arsenal. Shares in Dassault Aviation, a producer of Rafale Fighter Jets, fell 3.3 percentage points, and the share price fell from $373.8 to $362.05. Meanwhile, the shares of the Chinese company Chengdu Aircraft Company deployed by the Pakistan Air Force are producers of J-10C and J-17 fighter jets, and increased by 30%. A Chinese-made jet allegedly shot down a French-made jet.
In this weapon sales technique, friends of friends of Russia should not be abandoned. As we all know, due to the effectiveness of Russia’s S-400 missile, the successful deployment of India’s air strikes from Pakistan was successfully deployed. The United States threatens to sanction missiles and warns India not to buy them. The Pakistanis also demonstrated the efficacy of the Chinese PL-15 missile deployed against Indian aircraft.
Even as hostilities develop rapidly, media reports on the arrival of Israeli weapons in India and Turkish weapons in Pakistan. Not to be abandoned, American analysts have begun to remind India that it is best to buy our fighter jets. Both President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have explicitly announced India’s purchase of F-35 fighter jets. The Indian Air Force needs to buy a large number of jets and plays between the United States, France, Russia and Sweden. Given the role the Air Force has played in the recent clash with Pakistan, India’s decision on what to buy is a major game changer for major suppliers.
Back in 1961, outgoing U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned the American people in his farewell speech that he increasingly spoke what he called a “military industrial company.” President Eisenhower warned: “In government committees, we must prevent the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) (MICs) from obtaining unnecessary impacts, whether sought or uncommon. This warning does not prevent the global expansion and impact of microphones.
Between 1961 and 2025, many wars have been fought. However, in all wars, the major arms suppliers in all aspects were American, European and Russian companies. China hasn’t entered this business until recently.
Weapon suppliers see any war as an opportunity to test technology in real time. Therefore, when new technologies are developed, new wars come in handy. Peace time is developed and investment is carried out. War time is the time to test technology and make profits. In the conflict between India and Pakistan, like the new goods from China, it is not the goods of established Western suppliers. China has shown restrictions on its goods in the Ukrainian war for fear of U.S. sanctions, but is now being free to do so in the Indian-Pakistan war.
The unfortunate reality of the India-Pakistan conflict is that both countries are essentially dependent on imported weapons and equipment. While both attempt to develop domestic manufacturing capabilities and capabilities, they still rely on reliable ammunition and equipment from global weapons manufacturers in case of real-time conflict. That’s why the global arms manufacturers are courts in both countries. Considering the fact that both the United States and Russia are happy to sell equipment to India and Pakistan. China only sells it to Pakistan, while Israel only sells it to India. France sells to anyone willing to buy it.
This interesting and educational story told me by the late Pakistani economist, international diplomat, Dr. Mahbub-ul Haq, once the finance minister of Pakistan. Dr. Haq was my master when he visited Pakistan in 1997, when he invited me to attend the meeting at the Institute of Human Development in Islamabad. While serving as Finance Minister for Benazir Bhutto’s government in the late 1980s, Dr. Hack was asked by her how much he could spend to buy some fighter jets from France. Dr. Huck wondered why such commands had to be placed so urgently. Prime Minister Bhutto answered frankly. “I want to go to Paris,” she told Dr. Hack. “If we buy some jets, the French will provide state visits.”
This appears to have happened to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States in February this year. India has provided the United States with more defense purchases as a sweetener, giving a tough statement to President Donald Trump. Since signing a defense cooperation agreement in 2015, the United States has been actively pursuing the Indian defense market and established a new framework for defense relations in 2015. Over the past two decades, the U.S. share of India’s defense imports has increased from 1.0% in 2006-10 to about 1.0% to more than 10.0% in 2020-24. Russia’s share of India’s defense imports fell from 75% to 36% during the same period.
A similar switch occurred in Pakistan. France saw its share of the Pakistani market drop from 36% to almost zero during this period, while China’s share of the Pakistani defense import market increased from 36% to 81%. Israel is another important source of India, while Türkiye is from Pakistan. So, while two South Asian neighbors fight and kill each other, Americans, France, Russia, China, Israel and Türkiye’s arms manufacturers are making money.
Over the past decade, India has tried to carry out defense manufacturing through the “Atma Nirbharata” policy in the defense manufacturing industry. This undoubtedly helps to reduce some reliance on imports, especially in hostilities. India is still an exporter, exporting missiles and small arms to countries such as Egypt, the Philippines, Vietnam, Armenia and Poland. India has gained considerable domestic capabilities in drone manufacturing. It was in 2017-18 that India unanimously tried to promote domestic manufacturing of drones. Today, this comes in handy, with Indian drones becoming increasingly serious at the border.
The author is the founder of the Centre of Air Power Research and the Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Joint Services of India
