Indian arms and ammunition reaches Ukraine, raises Russian anger
MOSCOW: Artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers have been diverted by European customers to Ukraine and New Delhi has not intervened to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow, according to eleven Indian and European government and defence industry officials revealed.
The Kashmir Media Service reported that the transfer of armaments to support Ukraine’s defence against Russia has occurred for more than a year, the customs data stated, adding the Indian arms export regulations limit the use of weaponry to the declared purchaser, who risks future sales being terminated if unauthorized transfers occur.
The reports also stated that Russian leadership has raised the issue on at least two occasions, including during a July meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart, three Indian officials said.
Two Indian government and two defence industry officials revealed that Delhi produced only a very small amount of the ammunition being used by Ukraine, with one official estimating that it was less than 1% of the total arms imported by Kyiv since the war. The news agency couldn’t determine if the munitions were resold or donated to Kyiv by the European customers.
Among the European countries sending Indian munitions to Ukraine are Italy and the Czech Republic, which is leading an initiative to supply Kyiv with artillery shells from outside the European Union, according to a Spanish and a senior Indian official, as well as a former top executive at Yantra India, a state-owned company whose munitions are being used by Ukraine.
The Indian official said that Delhi was monitoring the situation. But, along with a defence industry executive with direct knowledge of the transfers, he said India had not taken any action to throttle the supply to Europe. Like most of the 20 people interviewed by Reuters, they spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The Ukrainian, Italian, Spanish and Czech defence ministries did not respond to requests for comment.
