High Level Officials of Indian Arms Makers Holds Meetings With Russia On Potential Join Ventures

High level officials of Indian arms makers including Adani Defence and Bharat Forge held rare meetings in Russia this year to discuss potential joint ventures, reports said. The meetings took place during the visit of India’s business leaders to Russia, which has not been reported previously, Reuters said in a report. The Indian government is seeking to reorient its defence ties with its decades-old ally Russia for developing weapons.

However, any potential collaboration with Moscow may also risk criticism from the West, especially from Washington, and undermine India's aspiration to make it a global manufacturing hub for arms. As per the report, Western diplomats have previously flagged concerns surrounding sensitive military technology with India owing to New Delhi’s ties with Moscow and the vast amount of Russian origin arms used by the Indian army, accounting for 36%. India is one of the world’s biggest arms importers.

According to the Reuters report, the talks between the officials were held on the sidelines of a visit by an Indian defence industrial delegation in October, headed by India’s Defence Production Secretary Sanjeev Kumar. The official purpose of the visit was to lay the ground for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s India visit last week.

Joint Production In India

The meetings held by the officials of arms makers discussed the potential for manufacturing of spares for Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet, other Russian-origin air defence and weapons systems and Russian proposal to set up production units in India for equipment development for possible exports to Moscow, the report said citing sources and an industry executive.

A delegation of representative from the defence section of Indian conglomerates, state-run firms, and start ups attended the meetings. An executive at engineering conglomerate Bharat Forge while Adani Defence and Aerospace was represented by its Chief Executive Ashish Rajvanshi, as per the report. Other executives from Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers advisory group, Tata Sons, Larsen & Toubro, and state-owned firms such as Bharat Electronics also attended the meeting.