The decades-old friendship between Russia and India is well known.
Especially in the defense sector, Russia has always been India’s biggest partner. India is still more dependent on Russia for the purchase of arms.
But now such reports are coming that India is keeping distance from its special friend. It is being said in the report that Russia is no longer the same as before.
Russia’s condition is bad due to the war in Ukraine, hence it is not able to supply arms to India as per its needs.
News agency Reuters had recently released a report related to Russia. It said that due to the war in Ukraine, Russia’s ability to supply war materials and other parts has been hampered.
Due to this, India wants to distance itself from its biggest arms supplier Russia. The report quoted Indian sources as saying that India should move cautiously to avoid pushing Russia closer to China.
Now Russia’s reaction on this matter has come to light.
Putin government’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko has rejected this report. “We have no such information,” Russia’s TASS news agency quoted the Russian minister as saying. Reuters people know all this. “Our Indian partners, as before, are still interested in cooperation everywhere, including in this (defense) sector.”
Last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) had stated in a report that Russia is still India’s largest arms supplier.
However, its share in Indian defense imports declined from 62% to 45% between 2017 and 2022. The reason for this is that India is now moving towards ‘self-reliance’ under ‘Make in India’. However, during the last two decades, Russia supplied more than 60 percent of India’s arms purchases worth more than $60 billion.
From tanks to aircraft carriers and surface-to-air missile systems, India has been purchasing these weapons from Russia. Both the countries are jointly making BrahMos cruise missile and there are also plans to make AK-203 rifle in India.
France is the second largest supplier with a 29% share. America is at third place with 11%. Despite an 11% decline in its total arms imports, India is still the world’s largest arms importer.