New Delhi does not prevent European clients from diverting ammunition to Ukraine.
->> Narendra Modi and Volodymyr Zelensky, Kyiv, August 2024
Artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers have been diverted to Ukraine by European clients. New Delhi is not preventing this, despite protests from Moscow, Reuters writes, citing Indian, European and defense industry officials, as well as an analysis of customs data.
The transfer of ammunition to support Ukraine's defense against Russia has been going on for more than a year, sources and customs data say. Indian arms export rules restrict the use of weapons to the declared buyer, risking future sales being cut off if unauthorized transfers occur.
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The Kremlin has raised the issue at least twice, including during a July meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart, three Indian officials said.
The details of the ammunition transfer are the first reported by Reuters.
< The Russian and Indian foreign and defence ministries did not respond to questions. In January, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told a news conference that India had not sent or sold artillery shells to Ukraine.
Two Indian government sources and two defence industry sources told Reuters that Delhi produces only a very small amount of the ammunition used by Ukraine, with one official estimating it was less than 1% of the total arms Kiev has imported since the war. The news agency was unable to determine whether the ammunition had been resold or gifted to Kiev by European customers.
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The countries sending Indian ammunition to Ukraine include Italy and the Czech Republic, which is leading an initiative to supply Kyiv with artillery shells from outside the European Union.
An Indian official said Delhi was monitoring the situation. But he and a defence industry executive with direct knowledge of the transfer said India had taken no action to restrict supplies to Europe. Like most of the 20 people interviewed by Reuters, they spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The defense ministries of Ukraine, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic did not respond to requests for comment.