Explained: How dependent is India on Russia’s weapons

What is the News?

In the Russia-Ukraine crisis, India has been trying to walk a fine line, negotiating its relationships with the United States and other Western nations on one side and the historically deep and strategic ties with Russia on the other.

India-Russia Defence Ties

India was almost solely dependent on the British and other Western nations for its arms imports immediately after Independence. 

But this dependence decreased and by the 1970s India was importing several weapons systems from the USSR, making it the country’s largest defence importer for decades.

How much is India dependent on Russia’s weapons?

Russia is the second-largest arms exporter in the world, following only the United States. For Russia, India is the largest importer and for India, Russia is the largest exporter when it comes to arms transfer. Between 2000 and 2020, Russia accounted for 66.5% of India’s arms imports.

What kind of weapons has Russia given to India?

The first submarine “INS Kalvari” was of the Soviet era. Currently, out of the total 16 conventional diesel-electric submarines with the Indian Navy, eight are of Soviet origins.

The only aircraft carrier in service with India, INS Vikramaditya is a Soviet-made Kiev-class vessel that came into service for the Indian Navy in 2013. 

The BrahMos missile, which India will begin exporting soon, has been developed jointly with Russia.

The Indian Army’s main battle tank force is composed predominantly of Russian.

Four of the Navy’s 10 guided-missile destroyers are Russian Kashin class, and 6 of its 17 frigates are Russian Talwar class.

The Indian Air Force’s fighter ground attack (FGA) fleet is 71% Russian-origin.

Is India trying to expand its defence base?

According to a SIPRI report, arms imports by India have decreased by 33% between 2011–15 and 2016–20.

Moreover, India has also broad-based its arms import, increasingly turning to the US, France and Israel for arms imports over the last 15 years. But still, over 60% of the weapons systems used by Indian armed forces are of Russian origin.

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained: How dependent is India on Russia’s weapons” published in Indian Express on 2nd March 2022.