India has been buying weapons from Russia for many years – what will change the war in Ukraine?
- Shruti Meron
- BBC Reality Check Project
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Long-standing ties between India and Russia, especially in connection with defense, raise new questions after Russian incursions into Ukraine.
During her visit to the US, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India wants to remain a good friend of the West.
But she also added that India does not want to lose military power and take care of its security. The likelihood of this means that India’s military-technical cooperation with Russia will continue.
How many weapons are in India
India is one of the world’s most important arms importers, having established close and longstanding ties in this area with the Soviet Union.
Because of its rivalry with consciousness, and increasingly with China, Moscow remains Delhi’s key partner after the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s.
Since 1992, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), which studies, among other things, global spending and arms needs, about two-thirds of Indian foreign equipment has been supplied from Russia.
At the rate American Research Center Stimson, the share of large armed forces in the Indian army can be up to 85%.
We are talking about vehicles such as fighter jets, nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, tanks and missiles.
Is India trying to diversify imported weapons?
Over the past ten years in India, from weapons of mass destruction, it has increasingly begun to purchase products in other countries – France, Israel, the United States and, to a lesser extent, the UK.
Judging by the Sipri figures, in 2017, in monetary terms, arms imports from France, Israel and the United States were half as much as in 2021.
India purchased Rafale and Mirage fighters and submarines of the Scorpen project from France. During the President’s recent visit to France by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he and Macron signed a memorandum to deepen cooperation in high tech protection.
Military-technical cooperation with the Prime Minister of Great Britain and India.
In Israel, India uses procurement:
- UAVs and equipment for them
- Radar systems
- Air defense systems
- Precision and guided missiles
Between 2018 and 2019, for example, industrial trade between them increased significantly between 2018 and 2019.
Major acquisitions include C-130 transport aircraft, long-range aircraft for the Navy, missiles and drones, with a recent Pentagon statement focusing on cooperation in cyber security.
Is this a preference for Russian weapons?
Due to the rapidly changing situation in the world, connections with manufacturers in countries like the US, France and Israel are developing faster.
Despite this, India did not condemn following the Western Russian aggression in Ukraine, making it clear that it does not want to take sides.
There are a number of opinions that the Russian scrutiny may leave Australia with no choice but to reduce imports of Russia’s armed forces.
Samir Lalwani, a defense analyst at the Stimson Center, believes that Russia may encounter problems importing components for its S-400 air defense systems. India purchased a batch of S-400s in 2018 and the order has not yet been completed.
“There are serious reasons to believe that Russia cannot fulfill its obligations under the contract with India for the supply of all S-400 systems,” says Lalvani.
In his opinion, the number of its army in Ukraine can be spent on Russian exports and reduced – “it uses all the reserves to recuperate,” the analyst believes.
At the same time, he, the Indian buyers, are monitoring how effective Russian equipment and other capabilities are in the Ukrainian conflict.
Can India do without Russian weapons?
So far, probably not.
In October, the US Congress is expected to say that “the Indian army today cannot work freely without equipment received from Russia, and in the short and medium term is calculated on a profit.”
Assuming that Russia sells weapons at low prices.
Sagita Saksina, editor of the Indian magazine Aviation and Defense Universe, believes that for some Indian ground forces they definitely continue to buy products in Russia.
But also the fact that relations between Russia and India have been tested by time.
However, the analyst says, India has a developed defense industry, albeit sometimes in partnership with other countries.
We can talk about the acquisition of technologies in other countries to stimulate the development of their own weapons in state programs.
India will buy weapons from whoever offers the best terms, whether it be the best for Russia or other countries, she believes.