New Delhi: A recent report in The New York Times has aroused interest and sparked a row in India.
Countering the article saying that Bengaluru-headquartered Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) supplied sensitive technology to a Russian arms agency, the Indian government slammed the American newspaper for its report published on March 28.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that the report was “factually incorrect and misleading”, and accused it of trying to “frame issues and distort facts to suit a political narrative,” reported NDTV.
“The Indian entity mentioned in the report has scrupulously followed all international obligations on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments. India’s robust legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade continues to guide overseas commercial ventures by its companies,” MEA said, urging “reputed media outlets to undertake basic due diligence while publishing such reports, which was overlooked in this case.”
As per The New York Times report, titled ‘Major Donor to Reform U.K. Party Sold Parts Used In Weapons to Russian Supplier’, the government-owned Indian aerospace and defence company received equipment from the British aerospace manufacturer H R Smith Group and sent parts to Russia “with the same identifying product codes”.
Citing documents, The New York Times claimed that one of the biggest corporate donors to the populist Reform UK party – led by Nigel Farage — has sold $2 million worth of transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas and other sensitive technology to Rosoboroneexport, a Russian arms agency blacklisted by the US and the UK.
Shipping records showed HR Smith made 118 shipments of restricted tech to HAL over 2023 and 2024. In that period, HAL reportedly made 13 shipments of the same parts to Rosoboroneexport. These shipments were worth over $14 million, NYT said.
The UK government even issued a ‘red alert’ in December 2023 to companies about sensitive equipment being redirected to Russia via intermediaries.
In December 2023, the UK issued a ‘red alert’ to companies about sensitive equipment being redirected to Russia via intermediaries.
