Reconfiguring India–Germany Defence Cooperation: Strategic Convergence and the Future of Indo-Pacific Security

The rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape, characterised by intensifying great-power competition, technological disruption, and the strategic centrality of the Indo-Pacific, has fundamentally transformed the contours of contemporary defence partnerships. Against this backdrop, India and Germany are increasingly redefining their bilateral defence relationship from a predominantly economic engagement to a comprehensive strategic partnership encompassing defence industrial cooperation, maritime security, emerging technologies, and resilient supply chains. Despite this transformation, existing scholarship continues to focus largely on political and economic relations, offering limited analysis of the strategic drivers, institutional mechanisms, and future trajectory of India–Germany defence cooperation within the broader Indo-Pacific security architecture. Addressing this gap, the present study examines the evolving dynamics of bilateral defence cooperation by integrating the perspectives of Strategic Partnership Theory, Complex Interdependence, Hedging Strategy, and Strategic Autonomy. The study adopts a qualitative and analytical research design based on secondary data drawn from official government documents, defence policy papers, parliamentary reports, strategic think tanks, and recent academic literature published by internationally recognised institutions. The study finds that converging geopolitical interests, concerns regarding maritime security, diversification of global defence supply chains, technological innovation, and the pursuit of strategic resilience have emerged as the principal drivers of India–Germany defence cooperation. Simultaneously, regulatory constraints, technology transfer restrictions, differing strategic cultures, and institutional limitations continue to impede the realisation of the partnership's full potential. The paper argues that a future-oriented India–Germany defence partnership should prioritise defence industrial collaboration, co-development and co-production of advanced technologies, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, maritime domain awareness, semiconductor resilience, and structured Indo-Pacific cooperation. It concludes by proposing a comprehensive policy framework to institutionalise long-term strategic dialogue, strengthen defence innovation ecosystems, enhance interoperability, and contribute to a stable, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific security order.