Moscow is unable to meet India's military requirements, reports Politico. Due to the fact that Russia has recently not fulfilled the contracts already signed, India is more likely to buy equipment from France or the USA. It is also planned to develop trade with Israel and South Korea.
India, the largest arms importer in the world, is drastically reducing its dependence on Russia by purchasing equipment, among others, from France, the Politico website reported on Thursday.
Changes in India's arms orders were to be influenced by the war in Ukraine, the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia by the West, as well as India's concerns about the quality of Russian equipment, Politico calculates. As noted, this creates opportunities for future Indian orders for Western arms manufacturers.
Russia is not honoring the agreements
Over the last 20 years, India has spent $60 billion on purchasing Russian weapons. According to the latest report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, these imports are constantly decreasing.
Indian defense industry experts point out that Moscow is unable to meet India's military requirements. They also rule out India purchasing large amounts of Russian equipment in the near future.
Experts from New Delhi indicate that Russia has recently not been fulfilling the agreements already signed, including: the Russian nuclear ship was not leased and two of the five S-400 air defense systems were not delivered.
Russian frigates will probably not be built at the shipyard in Goa. Moreover, it was found that the quality of the delivered Russian MiG-29K fighters was below standards.
India is opening up to Western markets
Politico indicates that defense ties between New Delhi and Washington are strengthening. A sign of this will be the signing of an agreement with General Motors for the transfer of technology to Indian fighter jets in 2023, during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Joe Biden in Washington. However, distrust between these countries still persists. It results, among other things, from the US's previous sale of defense equipment to Pakistan.
According to Politico, France may be a new player on the Indian market. With the recent purchase of 26 Rafale fighters, Paris has become the second largest supplier of contracts to the country. India also plans to sign defense equipment deals with Israel and South Korea. They are also considering purchasing a new submarine from Germany or Spain.
As noted, despite the decline in imports, India will not break off relations with Russia overnight. On the one hand, India is very concerned about the warm relations between Moscow and Beijing. On the other hand, almost 65 percent Indian military equipment, including helicopters, tanks and fighter jets, is Russian-made.
Main photo source: defense.gouv.fr