♦ India has emerged as the third-largest arms exporter to Europe, driven by the rising demand for defence goods under the “Rearm Europe” initiative and backed by an expanding domestic manufacturing sector, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said on 23 October 2026.

♦ He pointed out that over the last 10 years, there has been tremendous growth in India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem. Apart from the 16 large public sector companies, it has almost 840 large and medium-sized private sector firms as well as some 17,000 small enterprises, including startups.