China would see India’s attempt to expand defence industry cooperation with South Korea in artillery and anti-aircraft guns as “inevitably sensitive” given Beijing’s border dispute with New Delhi in the Himalayas, according to analysts.
Lee said South Korea fully backed India’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” or self-reliant India policy and hoped to “actively” support the production and operation of Indian defence equipment and discuss cooperation such as in technology development.
He cited the K9 Thunder, a South Korean howitzer, as an example of the two countries’ defence cooperation.
Delhi operates about 100 of the K9 Vajra-T 155mm self-propelled howitzer units and plans to acquire 100 more.
K-9 howitzers fire shells in a drill at a firing range in Cheorwon, South Korea. Self-propelled howitzers are deemed highly efficient in mountainous terrain because they can be fired at steep, high-angle trajectories. Photo: EPA-EFE
The K9 Vajra-T is made in India and based on South Korea’s K9 Thunder design. Its system was produced through a technology transfer from Hanwha Aerospace and optimised for the Indian Army’s desert and high-altitude environments.