India’s Zorawar light tank during trials. Photo: PIB
NEW DELHI: India and Belgium agreed on Thursday to deepen defence industry ties and work towards doubling bilateral trade in five years, as Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
De Wever is on a three-day official visit from September 2 to 4, his first trip to India since taking office in February 2025 and the first visit by a Belgian prime minister in about 20 years. He is accompanied by Defence and Foreign Trade Minister Theo Francken and a delegation of officials and business leaders. He paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat before talks at Hyderabad House.
After the talks, Modi said the two countries were collaborating on modern defence equipment such as the Zorawar tank, an Indian light tank developed by DRDO and Larsen and Toubro. Belgium’s John Cockerill Defence and India’s Electro Pneumatics and Hydraulics set up a joint venture in 2025 to make 105 mm gun turrets in India for the programme.
Defence outcomes
The joint statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders welcomed a Letter of Intent between the defence ministries. The document creates a framework for regular exchanges, staff talks, education and training, research cooperation and defence-industrial partnerships. It builds on talks held by the two defence ministers in March 2025.
The leaders also welcomed multiple agreements and partnerships between Belgian and Indian defence companies. They encouraged industry on both sides to stay engaged on manufacturing, technology, co-development and co-production.
Belgian reports before the visit said seven major defence contracts were expected. Some Indian reports put the number of industry papers at about 10, including local rocket work. The official joint statement did not publish a numbered list or contract values.
Rocket cooperation sits with Thales Belgium, which already supplies 70 mm rockets and launchers for HAL helicopters such as the ALH Rudra and the Light Combat Helicopter Prachand. Earlier partnerships with Indian firms, including Adani Defence and Bharat Dynamics Limited, aimed at making those rockets in India. Officials have not issued a company-by-company list of which files were signed on Thursday.
Francken met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. De Wever said Belgium wanted closer links between the two countries’ defence industries, not only their armed forces. Belgium posted its first defence attaché in New Delhi from September 1. The joint statement also noted the planned visit of Belgian frigate Leopold I to India from November 5 to 8.
Trade, energy and Europe
Bilateral trade stood at about 13.01 billion dollars in 2025-26. Belgian investment in India from April 2000 to December 2025 was about 4.2 billion dollars. Diamonds remain a core link between Antwerp and India’s cutting and polishing centres in Mumbai and Surat. De Wever travels to Mumbai on Friday for engagements with the diamond and ports sectors.
Modi said the two sides would work to double trade in five years. The governments launched an India-Belgium Investment Fast-Track Mechanism for companies. Modi also pointed to a major green ammonia project in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, and to cooperation that could link Belgium’s imec semiconductor research centre with India’s chip ecosystem.
The two prime ministers welcomed the conclusion of India-EU free trade agreement negotiations at the January 2026 summit and called for timely implementation. They also pointed to the India-EU Security and Defence Partnership. The first India-Belgium Strategic Dialogue was held in Brussels on July 15.
India is seeking local production and technology from European suppliers. Belgium is seeking new markets beyond traditional trade. Thursday’s outcome is a framework for that shift: a defence Letter of Intent, industry partnerships around Indian programmes such as Zorawar, and a five-year trade target.
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