India-made ammunition diverted by European customers to Ukraine, Russia upset

New Delhi is inviting Moscow's wrath as ammunition sold by Indian weapons manufacturers is diverted by European customers, including Italy and the Czech Republic, to Ukraine, news agency Reuters reported citing Indian and European government officials.

The transfer of ammunition to support Ukraine's defence against Russia has occurred for more than a year, according to the report.

“India had not taken any action to throttle the supply to Europe,” it added.

Russia has raised the issue with India on at least two occasions, including during a July meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar, the report added.

Earlier this year, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said that India had not sent or sold artillery shells to Ukraine.

According to the report, only a very small amount of India-made ammunition, under 1 per cent, was being used by Ukraine against Russia.

State-owned Yantra India is one of the companies whose munitions were being used by Ukraine, it also said.

India “sees the lengthy (Ukraine) war in Europe as an opportunity to develop its nascent arms export sector,” said the report.

India exported more than $3 billion of arms between 2018 and 2023, according to data from think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

On August 30, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that defence exports surpassed $2.5 billion in the fiscal year 2024 and that Delhi wanted to increase that to about $6 billion by 2029.

In the two years before the February 2022 invasion, three major Indian ammunition makers - Yantra, Munitions India and Kalyani Strategic Systems - exported just $2.8 million in munitions components to Italy and the Czech Republic, as well as Spain and Slovenia, where defence contractors have invested heavily in supply chains for Ukraine.

“Unlisted Italian defence contractor Meccanica per l'Elettronica e Servomeccanismi (MES) was among the companies sending Indian-made shells to Ukraine,” said the report citing a former top Yantra official.