Indo-Ukrainian defence collaboration exposes Delhi’s double game against Moscow
New Delhi: India’s growing defence ties with Ukraine have laid bare New Delhi’s classic double game — publicly reassuring Russia while quietly deepening military cooperation with Moscow’s arch-adversary on the battlefield.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Modi’s visit to Ukraine in August 2024 opened structured military-technical engagement, with both sides agreeing to hold the second India-Ukraine Joint Working Group (JWG) on Military-Technical Cooperation in India.
In April 2026, President Zelenskyy announced that a formal security cooperation arrangement with India was being finalized.
While India continues to enjoy cheap Russian oil, weapons, spares, and strategic support, it is simultaneously building defence links with Ukraine.
Existing collaborations include HAL’s agreements for Su-30MKI equipment, RD-33 and R-25 engine spares, and BDL’s contract for Igla-1M missile refurbishment.
New Delhi now seeks deeper cooperation in missile seeker heads, air defence systems, artillery, An-32 spares, aero-engines, marine gas turbines, drones, electronic warfare, and counter-UAS technologies — all areas where Ukraine has gained hard battlefield experience against Russian forces.
Analysts say India’s posture is not neutrality but pure opportunism. New Delhi reassures Moscow publicly, extracts battlefield-tested technologies from Kyiv quietly, and keeps Western capitals engaged. By using Ukraine to reduce Russian leverage over its Soviet-origin inventory, India is playing both sides for maximum gain.
This double game exposes the limits of India-Russia “trust.” While Moscow offers advanced platforms like the Su-57, India is busy courting Ukraine’s war-proven defence ecosystem.
India’s real policy remains clear: not loyalty to any partner, but calculated opportunism — buying Russian oil, seeking Russian weapons, and simultaneously benefiting from technologies tested against Russia.
