The “misleading” report alleges violations where there were none, New Delhi has claimed
The Reuters report alleging that India has provided artillery shells to Ukraine via third parties in the EU is “speculative and misleading,” the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi has said.
The news agency claimed on Thursday that Italian and Czech customers of Indian ammunition makers were diverting their shipments to the government Kiev, and that Moscow had protested this to New Delhi at least twice.
The Reuters report “implies violations by India, where none exist and, hence, is inaccurate and mischievous,” MEA spokesman Shri Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.
“India has an impeccable track record of compliance with international obligations on the export of military and dual use items. India has been carrying out its defense exports taking into account its international obligations on non-proliferation and based on its own robust legal and regulatory framework, which includes a holistic assessment of relevant criteria, including end user obligations and certifications,” he added.
Read more
Reuters based their report on “11 Indian and European government and defense industry officials,” none of whom were willing to go on record, as well as its own analysis of “commercially available customs data.” None of the governments or companies mentioned responded to requests for comment.
The Reuters report claimed that India has been supplying Ukraine via European intermediaries “for more than a year,” and that Moscow has raised the issue with New Delhi “on at least two occasions,” including at a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in July.