The ongoing Israel-Hamas war is unlikely to have an immediate impact on Indian military hardware and spares supplies, unless it turns out to be a long conflict stretching for several months, multiple officials in the government told The Indian Express. India was the biggest arms export market to Russia, France and Israel between 2018 and 2022 and as per the latest report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released in March this year. Around 37 per cent of Israel’s arms exports went to India during this period.
A senior official told The Indian Express that the Indian defence establishment is closely watching the situation in Israel.
“Any limited impact can only be felt if it turns out to be a long-drawn war like the one in Russia-Ukraine… in that case, the country may divert its weapons and equipment stocks towards fighting the long-drawn conflict,” the official said.
The latest SIPRI data had shown that Russia was India’s largest arms supplier in the periods between 2013–17 and 2018–22. Officials said in case of Russia, the long war with Ukraine is not the only reason why the supplies were affected. “Firstly, Russia was facing Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in 2017. Then after the war started, the country was subjected to more stringent economic sanctions from the west,” the official said, adding that all these factors cumulatively affected supplies from Russia.
Officials said several Israeli companies have partnered and formed joint ventures with Indian companies and that will also help keep supplies to India going despite the war.
Over the last decade, India has purchased a range of weapons and military equipment from Israel—from missiles, UAVs, sensors and radars, air defence systems and small arms.
Amrita Nayak DuttaAmrita Nayak Dutta writes on defence and national security as part of … read more