Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Mar 31: Indian officials have strongly refuted a report published by The New York Times that alleged a British aerospace company’s Indian partner may have facilitated military hardware supplies to Russia’s Rosoboronexport. Calling the claims “factually incorrect” and “misleading,” sources said the report misrepresented facts to push a specific political narrative.
According to official sources, the Indian defence firm mentioned in the report has fully adhered to international regulations on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments. “India’s strong legal and regulatory framework continues to guide all overseas commercial transactions involving its companies,” a source stated.
The NYT report, citing undisclosed documents, claimed that a company under the British aerospace manufacturer H R Smith Group supplied transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas, and other sensitive technology worth nearly $2 million to an Indian company. The report suggested that this Indian firm, a key trading partner of Russia’s blacklisted weapons agency, may have rerouted the supplies to Moscow.
While the report admitted that there was no definitive proof that H R Smith’s equipment reached Russia, it pointed out that in some cases, parts received by the Indian company were allegedly shipped to Russia within days, bearing the same product codes.
Rejecting the allegations, H R Smith Group clarified that its sales complied with all legal frameworks and that the supplied parts were intended for India’s search-and-rescue network. “These components are designed for lifesaving operations and are not meant for military use,” the company’s legal representatives stated.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Reform UK party, which had received a donation from the British firm, dismissed the report as a baseless attempt to malign the party. “The donation was lawful, and such weak attempts to smear Reform will not succeed,” the spokesperson said.
Indian authorities reiterated their expectation that reputed media outlets conduct proper due diligence before publishing such reports, emphasizing that The New York Times appeared to have overlooked this crucial step in its latest piece.