India has continued to allow the supply of Indian-made artillery shells to Ukraine, despite objections from Russia, Reuters reports. European buyers have been transferring these shells to Ukraine for over a year.
According to three Indian officials, cited by Reuters, the Kremlin has raised concerns with New Delhi about these shipments at least twice, but without success.
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Nonetheless, Russia has portrayed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow in July as a friendly gesture toward President Vladimir Putin.
Sources within the Indian government and defense industry told Reuters that India has only produced a small amount of the ammunition used by Ukraine, accounting for less than 1% of the total weapons Kyiv has imported since the war began.
Italy and the Czech Republic are reportedly redirecting shells to Ukraine, while Indian manufacturers have also exported ammunition components to Spain and Slovenia, which have established supply chains for Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly confronted his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, during a meeting in July about the ammunition supplies to Ukraine’s armed forces (AFU), pointing out that state-owned enterprises produced some of the ammunition.
Reuters could not confirm Jaishankar’s response but noted that no information indicates New Delhi has tried to halt these deliveries.
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The ammunition being supplied includes 155mm high-explosive fragmentation shells, 120mm and 125mm ammunition, and mortar shells of the same calibers.
These supplies have helped India develop its emerging arms export sector, a shift from its previous role as a weapons importer.
According to Walter Ludwig, a security expert on South Asia from King’s College London, this also allows India to demonstrate to its Western partners that it is not aligning with Russia in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin used Modi’s July visit to Moscow to show that Putin is not isolated internationally. During the visit, Modi and Putin referred to each other as friends and released a statement on their “strong and expanding partnership.”
Modi also requested the urgent return of Indian nationals who had been recruited to fight for the Russian army in Ukraine, saying they had been misled during recruitment.
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