India has rejected the New York Times report alleging that Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has provided sensitive technology to a Russian weapon agency. According to news agency ANI, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the Indian Company (HAL), who was in the New York Times report, has fully followed all international obligations on strategic trade control and end-user commitments.
Ministry of External Affairs dismisses report
The Ministry of External Affairs (Mea) has declared this report factually wrong and misleading. The government has appealed to the media institutions to conduct the correct investigation before printing such reports. According to the news agency ANI, ‘The government says that India’s strict laws and rules control the international trade of its companies. We hope that big media institutions should check the correct information before printing the news, which was not done in this case.
What does New York Times report say?
The New York Times report claimed that the British aerospace manufacturer HR Smith Group supplied restricted equipment to an Indian company between 2023 and 2024, which he has described the ‘biggest trading partner’ of Russia’s Arms Agency Rosoboronexport.
However, the report also admitted that there is no such record available to prove that the equipment sent by the British company to Russia. The report only said that these devices were sent to Russia with the same product code after receiving these devices.
‘Indian companies follow end-user commitments’
Reacting to this report, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “In this report, the facts have been distorted and presented under the political agenda.” The Ministry of External Affairs also clarified that all Indian institutions, including HAL, fully follow the International Trade Restures and End-User Commitments.