Article Posted on : - Feb 07, 2025

C295 Transport Aircraft. Image credit: Airbus

NEW DELHI (PTI): India and Spain held a key meeting on Thursday to review the ongoing bilateral defence cooperation, and agreed to focus on a "closer collaboration" in the sector, particularly in the areas of technology and armament production.

The fifth Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between India's Ministry of Defence and Spain took place in New Delhi, according to an official statement.

"Both sides reviewed the ongoing bilateral defence cooperation activities and discussed the plan for multiple joint activities, including in the maritime domain. They agreed to focus on a closer collaboration in defence, particularly in technology and armament production areas," the defence ministry said in a statement.

The meeting was co-chaired by Joint Secretary, International Cooperation, Amitabh Prasad and Special Advisor on Defence Diplomacy to the Secretary General of Defence Policy Brigadier General Paulino Garcia Diego, it said.

The C295 project with Airbus Spain and Tata Advanced Systems Limited, the first "Make-in-India" project in the defence aircraft sector, has "encouraged more Indian and Spanish companies to collaborate" with each other and explore options to work together in the aerospace domain, the statement said.

In October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, inaugurated the Tata Aircraft Complex in Gujarat's Vadodara, a facility that marks India's first private venture dedicated to the production of military aircraft, specifically the Airbus C295.

During the inauguration, Modi had highlighted the strengthening partnership between India and Spain, stating that this project is a vital step in the "Make in India, Make for the World" initiative.