India bans Chinese parts in its drones


Delhi has barred (on national security grounds) domestic drone producers from using Chinese parts, according to official documents seen by Reuters.

Officials are worried Beijing could exploit weaknesses in the drones’ cameras, radio transmission and software to gain access to Indian intel.

The move also comes as India seeks to reduce its reliance on imported military kit:

  • 🚀 Domestic production just crossed $12B for the first time, and
  • 💸 Delhi aims to place $100B in domestic orders in the next decade.

Intrigue’s take: The Russo-Ukraine War has made clear that drones are key. So the global military drone market is projected to more than double to $36B by 2030.

Drones are cheap, effective, and easily deployable. And this is exactly why governments like India want to develop domestic advantages, while ringfencing them from rivals.

Also worth noting:

Latest Author Articles
Xi and Trump talk for the first time

Sometimes, the shortest press releases generate the most headlines.   Take Thursday’s press release from China’s state broadcaster: “Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday held phone talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the latter’s request.”  As you’d expect, given the feverish geopolitical climate of today, those 18 words were enough to trigger a visceral reaction in any US-China […]

6 June, 2025
Meet South Korea’s new president

It’s been a tumultuous six months for South Korea. One failed martial law declaration, one impeachment, and three acting presidents later, and South Koreans finally have a permanent president again. Opposition candidate Lee Jae-myung from the left-leaning Democratic Party of Korea won yesterday’s election with 49% of the vote, defeating Kim Moon-soo from the ruling People […]

4 June, 2025
The five spiciest quotes from this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue

It’s finally June, and you know what that means! Summer’s The Shangri-La Dialogue is finally back, bringing together generals, leaders, security folks, and academics from 47 countries.  Here are five of the most intriguing quotes from this year’s summit:   In keeping with the tone of Trump 2.0, Hegseth’s keynote speech was anything but low-key.  Stay on top […]

2 June, 2025
Tax on, Tax off: courts jostle over Trump tariffs

We used to get bombshell trade news like once a decade. These days? Try once a day. Wednesday spiced things up when a US court you never heard of overruled most of President Trump’s tariffs. Then an appeals court took Thursday by overruling the overrule. First, who’s the Court of International Trade (CIT)?  It’s a […]

30 May, 2025