Introduction
If an adversary can stop India’s weapons production without firing a single shot by simply cutting off the supply of chips that fuel every radar, every missile and every unmanned system in its armoury, would India have an answer? Until now, the honest answer was no.
On May 16, in The Hague, the CEOs of Tata Electronics and ASML (Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of Prime Minister Modi and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten. The event was understated in ceremony but consequential in implications. India had successfully granted itself access to the only machines in the world without which modern semiconductors and modern warfare cannot be waged.
