JV would have been the right way from the start, but today they are just needed to counter our failures! It was a mistake to let GTRE develop the engine and not HAL, which already had experience with the licence production of foreign engines. Just like it was a mistake to do it alone without foreign help in form of a co-development partner, that supplies stop gap engines. We made ourself too dependent on the indigenous development and LCA completely dependent on the success of Kaveri engine and both turned out to be wrong decisions!
We have to get rid of the idea that we can be self reliant only, if we develop everything alone, because we have the big advantage that Russia, S. Korea, Japan and most western countries are friendly to us and are open for co-developments and JV. Especially in times when they struggle with fundings, we have way more of such options and should make full use of them, instead of thinking about the pride and honor of indigenous developments. The simple fact is, we are decades behind most nations and we would catch up faster if we let them join in our developments, with their know how and experience.
