India has dismissed a New York Times report alleging that a state-run defence firm transferred sensitive technology to Russia, calling it “factually incorrect” and “misleading.” Officials said that the Indian entity has strictly adhered to international trade regulations and end-user commitments.
A report published by The New York Times linking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited — an Indian state-run defence firm — to a Russian arms agency is “factually incorrect” and “misleading,” official sources said on Monday. The report also connected the Indian firm to a British aerospace company, suggesting that military hardware supplied by the British manufacturer may have reached the Russian agency Rosoboronexport. Official sources asserted that the report was designed to “frame issues and distort facts to suit a political narrative” while disregarding basic due diligence.
“The Indian entity mentioned in the report has scrupulously followed all its international obligations on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments,” a source was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. India’s legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade remains robust, guiding overseas commercial activities of Indian firms, the source added. “We expect reputed media outlets to conduct basic due diligence before publishing such reports, which clearly did not happen in this case,” the source said.
What the NYT report claimed
The New York Times article, citing “documents,” claimed that a major corporate donor to the UK’s Reform Party had sold nearly USD 2 million worth of transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas, and other technology to a key supplier of Moscow’s blacklisted state weapons agency.
According to the report, between 2023 and 2024, a company under the British aerospace manufacturer H. R. Smith Group shipped this equipment to an Indian firm, which the report described as the biggest trading partner of Rosoboronexport.
While the records do not confirm that H. R. Smith’s products reached Russia, the report suggested that, in some cases, the Indian company received equipment from the British firm and, within days, sent parts to Russia with identical product codes.
HR Smith Group and Reform Party respond
The H. R. Smith Group defended its sales, stating that all transactions were lawful and that the equipment was intended for an Indian search-and-rescue network. The company’s lawyer was quoted saying the parts “support lifesaving operations” and are “not designed for military use.”
A spokesperson for the UK’s Reform Party dismissed the allegations, stating that the donation from the company was “lawful” and that “such woeful attempts to smear Reform will not work,” according to the report.
(Based on PTI inputs)
