As people across the country exchanged Eid Mubarak greetings, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh brought attention to India’s long-standing defence collaboration with Russia, highlighting the BrahMos missile system as a symbol of continuity in national security policy.
BrahMos: A Symbol of Indo-Russian Collaboration
The BrahMos missile, named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, stands as a testament to India-Russia defence cooperation. Jairam Ramesh noted that the missile programme is often in the spotlight and serves as a strong example of policy continuity that transcends political regimes.
Genesis of the Programme
India’s journey toward missile self-reliance began with the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme launched in 1983. By the mid-1990s, then-Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai envisioned a collaborative effort with Russia to develop supersonic cruise missiles.
Key Milestones and Political Leadership
An inter-governmental agreement on BrahMos was signed on February 12, 1998, when I.K. Gujral served as Prime Minister. The first contract followed on July 9, 1999, under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The maiden successful test of the missile was conducted on June 12, 2001.
In a major diplomatic gesture, Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the BrahMos headquarters in New Delhi on December 4, 2004.
Progress Under UPA Governments
The missile was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2005 and the Indian Army in 2007. The air-launched version debuted in 2012, during the tenure of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. His government also played a pivotal role in further institutionalising the programme by establishing the BrahMos Integration Complex in Hyderabad and BrahMos Aerospace in Thiruvananthapuram.
Dr. Singh’s leadership was also instrumental in finalising the Indo-US nuclear deal in 2005, which laid the groundwork for India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016.
