BrahMos: On the launch pad

The formalities of the terms of India's sale of missile technology are cleared between Russia and India

After some anxious moments between traditional military allies, India and Russia, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his December 2005 visit to Moscow, finally signed the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) pact on which rested the fate of India's rights to sell the technology of the BrahMos missile. The multi-role supersonic cruise missile (MRCM), named after the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva, is a joint-venture between the two countries. Implicit in the IPR pact was the agreement to export it to certain "friendly countries". The authorities of the two countries would narrow the specific buyers in accordance with policies mutually laid down.

Russia insisted on the pact out of concern that India would pass on tactical information to other countries. The pact forbids the export of the technology without the permission of the parent country.

Certain sections of the media remain sceptical. They feel that the PM's visit to Russia resulted in a face-saving compromise; a final formula is pending. The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of BrahMos Sivathanu Pillai, elaborated, "Both countries have carefully drawn a list of countries to which the missile can be exported after assessing the diplomatic relations of India and Russia. A team headed by Sergei Ivanov, Russian Defence Minister, told us that they were also interested in exporting the technology as it was part of the BrahMos programme agreement."

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