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

At least half a dozen executives from leading Indian arms manufacturers, including representatives from Adani Defence and Bharat Forge, have attended rare meetings in Russia this year, according to a report. The meetings marked the first visit of India’s defence business leaders to Russia since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

According to a report in news agency Reuters that cited three people familiar with the matter, the Indian government is seeking to re-orient its longstanding defence relationship with Russia, moving towards joint weapon development.

The Moscow meetings took place on the sidelines of an Indian defence-industrial delegation’s visit on October 29-30, headed by Defence Production Secretary Sanjeev Kumar, the report added. The discussions also laid the groundwork for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India on December 4-5. During the visit, executives from the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers advisory group, which includes more than 500 companies such as Tata Sons and Bharat Electronics, participated.

A broad delegation also represented Indian conglomerates, state-owned firms, and startups involved in 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 components for Russian-origin tanks and aircraft, as well as potential collaboration in future helicopter projects, two of the sources said.

Adani Defence and Aerospace, a unit of the Adani Group, was represented by Chief Executive Ashish Rajvanshi, the sources said. Spokespeople for Adani Group and Bharat Forge denied their executives’ attendance, while the defence ministry and other firms did not comment.

The meetings examined prospects for manufacturing spares for the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet and other Russian-origin air defence and weapon systems. Additionally, a Russian proposal to set up production units in India for equipment development that could be exported to Moscow was discussed, said two of the sources and another industry executive.

Russia remains India’s largest arms supplier, accounting for about 36% of the Indian military’s equipment. During Putin’s visit, both sides agreed they would reorient their partnership "to joint research and development, co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems" to further India’s pursuit of self-reliance in defence.

The potential collaborations come at a time when western diplomats have cited India’s Russian defence links as a key obstacle to technology transfer from Western nations.

(With Reuters inputs)