The word BrahMos strikes fear in the minds of some people, the prime minister has said

Numerous countries have shown interest in buying Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles after seeing how they performed in India's conflict with Pakistan earlier this year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

Addressing naval personnel on board the INS Vikrant during India's annual Diwali celebrations on Monday, Modi said that the name 'BrahMos' strikes fear in the minds of some people.

"Our missiles like BrahMos and Akash have proved their capability in Operation Sindoor," he said, referring to the codename used for India's four-day military confrontation with Pakistan in May.

"Now many countries in the world want to buy these missiles," Modi added.

BrahMos Aerospace is an Indo-Russian joint venture named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. India's Defense Research and Development Organization has a 50.5% stake in the company, while Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia holds 49.5%.

Modi's comments came a few days after the first batch of missiles manufactured at the BrahMos Integration and Testing Facility Centre in Lucknow in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) was handed over to the armed forces.

The facility, which is a key component of the UP Defense Industrial Corridor, was virtually inaugurated by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in May. The first set of missiles was ready fordeploymentwithin five months of operations, the Indian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

At the inauguration, Singh said the BrahMos team has signed contracts worth approximately $450 million with two countries. He added that the turnover of the BrahMos Lucknow unit will be around $340 million from 2026.

At a trade show last month, Modi said India is furtherstrengtheningits "time-tested partnership" with Russia.

(RT.com)