Russian arms ‘still in demand’ despite Western pressure
RUSSIA supplied India with around $13bn (£10.65bn) of arms in the past five years, and New Delhi has placed orders with Moscow for weapons and military equipment exceeding $10bn (£8.19bn), Russian state news agencies reported last Sunday (12).
India is the world’s biggest buyer of Russian arms, accounting for around 20 per cent of Moscow’s current order book.
New Delhi has not explicitly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. India’s prime minister Narendra Modi has called for dialogue and diplomacy to solve the conflict, now in its 12th month.
Scores of Western countries imposed sanctions on
Russia, including on arms, in response to the invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.
India, China and some southeast Asian countries have maintained their interest in buying Russian arms, according to Dmitry Shugayev, the head of Russia’s Federal Service for MilitaryTechnical Cooperation, the agencies reported.
“Despite the unprecedented pressure on India from Western countries led by the United States in connection with Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, it continues to be one of Russia’s main partners in the field of military-technical cooperation,” Interfax agency quoted Shugayev as saying.
Annual arms exports were about $14bn-$15bn (£11.47bn£12.29bn), and the order book has remained steady at around $50bn (£40.97bn), Interfax reported.
Asian customers are particularly interested in Russia’s S-400 Triumf missile defence systems, shortrange surface-to-air missiles systems such as the Osa, Pechora or Strela, as well as Su-30 and MiG-29 warplanes, helicopters and drones, Shugayev said.
Another Russian military official was quoted by Interfax
news agency as saying Moscow was currently producing S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems for India and would complete the deliveries on time.
Russia’s TASS state news agency said Moscow will present about 200 samples of weapons and military equipment at the 14th international aerospace exhibition Aero India 2023, which opened on Monday (13) in Bangalore.