Reuters: Executives from top Indian arms makers meet Russia on collaboration

At least six executives from leading Indian defence companies, including Adani Defence and Bharat Forge, attended rare meetings in Russia this year to explore potential joint ventures, three people familiar with the discussions said.

These meetings marked the first visit of Indian defence industry leaders to Russia since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and the trip had not been previously disclosed, Reuters reports.

The Indian government is aiming to recalibrate its long-standing defence ties with Russia toward joint weapons development.

The Moscow talks took place on October 29-30 alongside a visit by an Indian defence-industrial delegation led by Defence Production Secretary Sanjeev Kumar, intended to pave the way for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India on December 4-5.

Discussions focused on manufacturing spare parts for the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jet and other Russian-origin air defence and weapons systems. Sources also noted that Russia proposed establishing production facilities in India for equipment that could potentially be exported back to Moscow.

The meetings included a wide delegation of representatives from major Indian conglomerates, state-owned defence firms, and startups developing military drones and artificial intelligence technologies.

India has long relied on Russia as its main arms supplier: over decades, Moscow provided a large share of India’s military hardware — aircraft, missiles, tanks, submarines and other platforms — and joint ventures such as BrahMos Aerospace exemplified deep cooperation in production and technology transfer.

However, since the early 2010s, India has been steadily diversifying its procurement. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Russia’s share of Indian arms imports dropped from around 76% in 2009–2013 to about 36% in 2019–2023.

This shift reflects New Delhi’s ambition to build a stronger domestic defence‑industrial base (under initiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat / “Make in India”) and increase deals with Western suppliers (e.g., France, United States, Israel) to acquire more modern and diverse capabilities.

Western diplomats have highlighted that a major barrier to transferring sensitive military technology to India has been its heavy reliance on Russian arms.

Despite the decline in share, Russia remains India’s largest single-source supplier of major arms and key systems — and Moscow has continued to deliver critical platforms (missile systems, tanks, aircraft, etc.) while remaining an important strategic partner.

By Jeyhun Aghazada