It’s no overstatement to say that no other country can best use the art of double-game as India; pursuing its interest while throwing its allies under the bus.
The latest in this regard is the recent report published by Reuters. The report reveals that artillery ammunition manufactured in India has been diverted to Ukraine via Europe for over a year, sparking strong ire from Russia. For decades, Russia and India have had strong bilateral ties, especially in the sector of defence, with Russia being its primary importer; supplying more than 60 percent of arms to India.
Although India has not directly provided ammunition to Ukraine, it has allowed the sale of shells to European countries, some of which have ended up in Ukraine. However, despite Moscow’s strong protest, the lack of substantive response and significant action by India to throttle the exports implies New Delhi’s compliance in this matter.
Blindfolded by its lust to assert itself as a rising global arms exporter, India is constantly ignoring the humanitarian consequences of its actions.
At the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, India, very categorically, claimed neutrality and also turned down the US’ request to join Western sanctions against Russia. However, the reports of Indian ammunition reaching Kyiv expose the long-known Indian hypocrisy and are a sheer betrayal of the longstanding partnership between India and Russia. This raises questions about New Delhi’s global credibility and its reliability as a strategic ally.
For the past few years, India has been trying to develop its domestic arms industry and increase its arms exports across the globe. Between 2018 and 2023, India exported over $3 billion in arms, and in the last fiscal year alone, defence exports surpassed $2.5 billion. The Russia-Ukraine war presented the opportunistic New Delhi with a golden opportunity to garner more clients for its nascent arms industry.
With the latest move, India has also portrayed itself as a country which capitalizes on conflict. With tens and thousands of lives already lost, India, instead of playing the role of peace-maker between both countries, is further fanning the flames of chaos and bloodshed by allowing its manufactured arms to reach a war zone.
Additionally, India, blindfolded by its lust to assert itself as a rising global arms exporter, is constantly ignoring the humanitarian consequences of its actions. This could set a dangerous precedent for other neutral countries who might follow Indian suit in future conflicts, selectively applying their policy of neutrality and intensifying the conflict.
The writer is a freelance columnist.