Defence Minister, Tri-services Chiefs meet amid supply concerns from Russia

Following the western sanctions against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday chaired a top-level meeting in the national capital to assess the impact on the preparedness of the Indian armed forces that have a significant dependency on Russian-origin arms.

Sources said the meeting was attended by chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy who have already undertaken an in-depth assessment of the ongoing contracts with Russia and the impact of disruption in supplies.

Singh, sources said, was briefed on the current security situation, dependency of the armed forces on supplies from Russia and steps being taken in the aftermath of the crisis. Bulk of the Air Force's fighter fleet and several frontline Indian Navy platforms are of Russian origin. Similarly, almost the entire armoured corps of the Army operates Russian equipment.


Despite a strong drive for self-dependence in the past few years, the forces still import spares, supplies and services from Russia on a regular basis to maintain their fighting platforms. Several major capital procurements are also underway from Russia for which payments are to be made this month, that is the end of the financial year.

As reported by ET, the Department of Military Affairs has collated information from all three services to understand the dependency on Russian suppliers and payments that are due to be made for both new weapons systems and spares.

Following western sanctions, Indian banks have been reluctant to process even scheduled payments to Russian arms companies, with several transactions declined by them in the past week. Additionally, there are concerns about the ability of the Russian industry to deliver goods on order, given the focus on equipping its own armed forces for the ongoing war in Ukraine.

On its part, Russia has assured India that defence supplies will not be hit by sanctions and that alternative mechanisms are in place to ensure continuity.