Top Indian defence firms held rare meetings in Russia; something big in store?

According to a report, at least six executives from leading Indian arms manufacturers, including representatives of Adani Defense and Bharat Forge, attended rare meetings in Russia this year. These meetings mark the first visit of Indian defense business leaders to Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

According to a report published by Reuters news agency, citing three people familiar with the matter, the Indian government is seeking to redirect its long-standing defense relationship with Russia and move towards joint arms development.

The report added that the Moscow meetings were held on the sidelines of the visit of an Indian defense industrial delegation on October 29 and 30, headed by Defense Production Minister Sanjeev Kumar. The discussions also laid the foundation for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to India from December 4-5. Executives from the Advisory Group of the Indian Defense Manufacturers Association, which includes more than 500 companies such as Tata Sons and Bharat Electronics, participated during the visit.

A wide delegation also represents Indian conglomerates, state-owned companies and startups working in the field of drones and artificial intelligence for military use, the sources said.

An executive from Bharat Forge, part of the Kalyani Group, attended the meetings to explore sourcing or joint development of Russian-origin tank and aircraft components, as well as potential cooperation on future helicopter projects, two of the sources said.

Adani Defense and Aerospace, a unit of the Adani Group, was represented by CEO Ashish Rajvanshi, the sources said. Spokesmen for Adani Group and Bharat Forge denied the attendance of their executives, while the Ministry of Defense and other companies did not comment.

The meetings discussed prospects for manufacturing spare parts for the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter plane and other Russian-origin air defense and weapons systems. In addition, a Russian proposal to set up production units in India to develop equipment that could be exported to Moscow was discussed, two of the sources and another industry executive said.

Russia remains the largest arms supplier to India, representing about 36% of India’s military equipment. During Putin’s visit, the two sides agreed to redirect their partnership “to joint research and development, joint development and joint production of advanced defense technology and systems” to advance India’s quest for self-reliance in defense.

The potential collaboration comes at a time when Western diplomats have pointed to Indo-Russian defense ties as a major obstacle to technology transfer from Western countries.

(With Reuters inputs)