New Delhi: India and Belgium on Thursday (September 3) agreed to deepen defence cooperation, including joint development and production of military equipment, as prime minister Narendra Modi and his Belgian counterpart Bart De Wever sought to broaden a relationship traditionally centred on trade into a wider strategic partnership.De Wever, who arrived in India on Wednesday (September 2) for the first visit by a Belgian prime minister in two decades, held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday.“Defence and security cooperation is a key pillar of our relationship,” Modi said after the talks. “The agreements between our governments and defence industries will open up new opportunities for defence co-development and co-production.”The two governments signed a Letter of Intent on defence cooperation, while India also announced the appointment of a resident defence attaché in Brussels, complementing Belgium’s defence attaché in New Delhi. A separate Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Belgian Security and Defence Industry association and the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers.At a special briefing after the meeting, foreign secretary (West) Sibi George said the defence cooperation was now moving towards “design, co-design, co-production” and local manufacturing, combining Belgian technology with India’s “skill and scale”. He said at least eight MoUs had been signed at a meeting of the defence-industry delegations accompanying De Wever.The industrial cooperation ranges from naval mine-countermeasure capabilities to ammunition and rockets. Larsen & Toubro and Belgium’s Exail Robotics are partnering on mine-countermeasure vessels, while Kalyani Strategic Systems and Thales Belgium are working on producing 70-mm rockets in India. Other agreements involve Belgian ammunition maker Lachaussée, India’s Tembo Classic Engineering, and companies working on military optics and equipment.The Belgian defence ministry statement, quoted by Breaking Defense, said the Thales-Kalyani project is expected to produce the first fully India-made 70-mm rocket in early 2027. The ministry also put the value of the Lachaussée ammunition project at €50 million and said the production line could eventually have capacity for about 100 million rounds a year.According to Belgian defence and foreign trade minister Theo Francken, Belgian defence company John Cockerill can supply the turret for India’s Zorawar light tank, being developed for operations at very high altitude, while Belgian company OIP is supplying sights for the Arjun tank.“India wants to rapidly expand its military-industrial base. We have a direct security interest in that,” Francken wrote in a post on X. “A stronger India can provide a useful counterweight to China’s dominance in Asia and thus ensure a more stable balance of power,” he stated.He added that India was a “stabilising factor in South Asia and in the Indian Ocean”, which he described as a vital artery for Belgium’s economy.The defence cooperation is part of a broader effort to diversify bilateral ties, which have historically been dominated by the diamond trade between Antwerp and India’s cutting and polishing centres.India and Belgium have set a target of doubling bilateral trade, currently around $13 billion, over the next five years. They agreed on an investment fast-track mechanism and institutionalised an India-Belgium Business Forum, while also seeking greater cooperation in ports, critical minerals, clean energy, semiconductors and technologyThe two sides also sought to deepen law-enforcement cooperation, signing an MoU between India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Belgian Federal Police on transnational organised crime and cybercrime. The agreement assumes added significance in the case of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who has been in Belgian custody since his arrest in April 2025 following an Indian extradition request.Asked whether the issue had been discussed during De Wever’s visit, secretary (west) George said law-enforcement cooperation was “a very important topic of discussion” in the bilateral relationship and that “all issues of concern and interest are discussed at all levels of our engagement”. He said India remained committed to ensuring that fugitives were brought back to the country to face “law and justice”.