The Mystery Of Indian Ammunition In Ukraine

There is considerable acrimony and ire in Russia over Indian-origin artillery ammunition being used in Ukraine. Photographs of both Indian-origin and Pakistani-origin artillery/mortar ammunition have been appearing on social media over the past several months.

Moscow has reportedly raised this issue at least on two occasions, including in July 2024 during a meeting between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. This indicates a diplomatic strain as Russia seeks to address its concerns regarding the supply of Indian-made 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine.

Now ‘Reuters’ has published a report, citing two Indian government and two India’s defence industry sources (all unnamed), saying that India produced only a very small amount of the ammunition being used by Ukraine; one official estimating that it was under 1% of the total arms imported by Kyiv since the war.

Adding spice to the narrative, Walter Ladwig of King's College London, said the diversion of a relatively small amount of ammunition was geopolitically useful for Delhi since it allows India to show partners in the West that it is not 'on Russia's side' in the Russia-Ukraine conflict."

Calling the Reuters report "inaccurate, misleading, speculative and mischievous", Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, has said, “It implies violations by India where none exist and, hence, is inaccurate and mischievous.

India has been carrying out its defence exports taking into account its international obligations on non-proliferation and based on a robust legal and regulatory framework, which includes a holistic assessment of relevant criteria, including end user obligations and certifications."

In the case of Pakistan, it is well known that the United Kingdom (UK) was procuring artillery mortar ammunition from Pakistan. It was packaged in the UK and then supplied to Ukraine. Photos of the ammunition on social media clearly show Pakistan Ordnance Factory markings.

But how is Ukraine using artillery ammunition manufactured in India? It requires no intelligence to decipher why a third party to whom India supplied artillery ammunition, has diverted 155mm artillery ammunition to Ukraine; and more importantly who is masterminding this – the US of course! One just has to join the dots, the most recent ones being the following:

• The United States has been doing its utmost to cause a rift between India and Russia.
• The US Under Secretary of State Donald Lu made a sudden visit to India when the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 were in full swing in India and visited Chennai, not Delhi – meeting the DMK coterie, with the leader periodically raising secessionist demands for a separate state?
• David Lu’s mission obviously was in line with what Barack Obama had earlier described, how the Obama Foundation and George Soros “destabilise nations” and what their activities are in India.
• Just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, Gurpatwnt Pannun, head of Sikhs for Justice, known as CIA’s ‘pet weasel’, filed a case in a US Court, following which the Court issued summons to NSA Ajit Doval, former R&AW Director Samant Goel and some others.
• While the POTUS Joe Biden proceeded to Delaware for his last participation in the Sixth Quad Summit, the White House met with a group of Sikh sympathisers of the Khalistan movement and assured them "protection from any transnational aggression on its soil"; a reconfirmation of US providing shelter, asylum and support to the Khalistani separatist movement that has been involved in terrorist activities in India.

No matter how tight Modi hugs Biden, the US will always undercut New Delhi and miss no opportunity to destabilise India, given America’s history and how and why it came to head the White Taliban Organisation.

European nations as well as the UK, being part of Washington’s kennel, can hardly be expected to abide by third party obligations in matters of weapons and ammunition.

The Indian government has categorically denied any involvement in supplying artillery ammunition to Ukraine. But the important issue is that simply denying no sale of artillery ammunition to Ukraine can hardly satisfy Russia being the affected side.

Also, inaction by simply pointing out the complexities of arms procurement and supply chains involving third-party nations does not address the problem either.

We must acknowledge that continued use of Indian artillery ammunition by Ukraine, Russia noting that the Indian government has not intervened to halt this trade despite protests from Moscow, has the potential of influencing future diplomatic relations between India and Russia (which is what the US wants), notwithstanding the historic relations between the two nations. Would India like Russia leaning closer to say Pakistan?

Russia has already expanded economic ties with Pakistan and supports Pakistan’s inclusion in BRICS.

Under the circumstances, it would be best to stop exporting 155mm ammunition to Europe and US-aligned nations, no matter how loath it is to our government focused on defence exports, including ammunition, ignoring the fact that India may be fighting a prolonged war in not so distant a future.

European nations and the UK are not fighting a war anyway, although the US has psyched their leaders that Russia will gobble them up. In addition, it should not be very difficult to find out which are the countries that have diverted India-made artillery ammunition ro Ukraine, unless we want it to continue.

Lt General Prakash Katoch is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed here are the writer’s own.