India on Friday responded to an allegation by Amnesty International that New Delhi is supplying weapons and military components to Tel Aviv despite warnings about war crimes, saying that all exports of dual-use items are in line with international obligations.
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Amnesty International alleged in a report issued on July 29 that corporations in India continued to export weapons, ammunition, components or dual-use items to Israel “long after clear and public warnings” were made regarding the “possible commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide” in Gaza by Israel’s armed forces.
“India has a robust legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade controls and carries out its export of dual-use items and technologies to various countries in accordance with our national laws and consistent with our international obligations,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.
He was responding to a question on the Amnesty International report. He did not give further details.
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India has built strong defence, intelligence and security ties in recent decades, and defence industries in the two countries are involved in the joint development and production of weapon systems.
The Indian side initially expressed solidarity with Israel after the terror attacks by Hamas in 2023 but subsequently adopted a more nuanced position following pushback from Arab countries. India has reiterated its support for a two-state solution and called for the protection of civilians and unimpeded humanitarian access in Gaza.
The Amnesty International report said its investigators analysed 2,596 shipments of small arms, ammunition and military vehicles shipped from India to Israel since October 2023. Among the corporations responsible for the shipments were companies “directly owned and operated by the government of India”, it said.
“Under the law of state responsibility, by transferring weapons to Israel in the knowledge that these could be used to commit crimes under international law, India may risk complicity in such violations,” Amnesty International said.
