New Delhi: India has rejected a media report that claimed that “artillery shells sold by Indian arms manufacturers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine and New Delhi has not intervened to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow.” Today, Reuters news agency published the report citing eleven government and defence industry officials from India and Europe, as well as their analysis of commercially available customs data.
Responding to the report, the Ministry of External Affairs called it “speculative and misleading.” “It implies violations by India, when there are none, and is therefore inaccurate and malicious,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement released on Thursday.
What the Reuters report claims
According to the report, the transfer of ammunition to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia has been going on for more than a year. Citing its sources and customs data, Reuters reported that Indian arms export regulations limit the use of weaponry to the declared buyer, who risks having future sales cancelled if unauthorized transfers occur. The media report also claimed that the Kremlin has raised the issue on at least two occasions, including once during a meeting in July between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart.
“Two Indian government sources and two in the defence industry said Delhi produced only a very small amount of the ammunition used in Ukraine, with one official estimating it was less than 1% of the total arms imported by kyiv since the war. The news agency could not determine whether the ammunition was resold or donated to kyiv by European customers,” Reuters reported.
India has an impeccable record of compliance: MEA
The report also mentions a statement by Randhir Jaiswal categorically informing the media that India has not shipped or sold any artillery shells to Ukraine. However, a fresh statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs underlined that India has an impeccable record of complying with international obligations on export of military and dual-use items. The Ministry stressed that India has been carrying out its defence exports taking into account its international non-proliferation obligations and based on its own robust legal and regulatory framework, which includes a holistic assessment of relevant criteria, including end-user obligations and certifications.
India’s defence exports
India exported arms worth just over $3 billion between 2018 and 2023, according to data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think tank. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh He said at a conference on August 30 that defence exports exceeded $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year and that Delhi wanted to increase that figure to about $6 billion by 2029.
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