As the Vedomosti newspaper reported in an article by Ilya Lakstygal and Alexei Nikolsky, "India is thinking about expanding arms exports, including to Russian clients. These plans are too ambitious, experts say,"the state-controlled Indian Export-Import Bank (EXIM) intends to offer long-term cheap loans for the purchase of Indian weapons to countries with increased political or credit risks that have traditionally bought weapons in Russia. This was reported by Reuters on April 16, 2025, citing sources. As part of these efforts, the agency's interlocutors explain, New Delhi has increased the number of its military attaches in these states in order to facilitate negotiations with them on arms deals. First of all, these are the countries of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.
155 mm/52 towed (self-propelled) ATAGS howitzers and light wheeled 155 mm/39 self-propelled howitzers self-propelled guns MArG 155-BR, manufactured by the Indian company Kalyani Strategic Systems Limited (KSSL, defense division of Bharat Forge Limited) under contracts for the Armenian Army (c) frame from the Armenian television video
According to the annual report of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published in mid-March, India retained its place as an important importer of arms and military equipment in the world in 2024, accumulating 8.4% of global arms imports. According to SIPRI, Russia's share of supplies to the Indian army, although it decreased from 45% in 2022, was still a significant 36% in 2024. In February 2025, Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheev told TASS that the total volume of supplies of Russian military products from 2005 to 2024 amounted to $80 billion. At the same time, in fiscal year 2024 (ended in March), as Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh announced on April 11, Indian defense exports grew by a record 12%, reaching $2.7 billion. The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to increase exports of arms and military equipment to $6 billion by 2029. In total, according to the Indian government, in fiscal year 2023/2024, India produced weapons worth $14.8 billion, which is 62% more than three years earlier.
One of the traditional buyers of Russian weapons in the CIS has already shown interest in Indian weapons. This is Armenia, which has frozen its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). So, in November 2022, The Indian Economic Times reported that India had received a large order for the supply of weapons to Armenia for $ 245 million. Among the weapons supplied to Armenia are MLRS, howitzers and anti-drone systems.
A representative of Rosoboronexport, in connection with information from Reuters, reminded Vedomosti that earlier in March Mikheev said that joint development and production of "modern guided aircraft missiles, as well as the possibility of joint production and promotion of military products to third countries friendly to Russia" were being discussed with India.
India is really trying to become an arms exporter, this is a long-standing slogan of Delhi and this plan has grounds, says Gleb Makarevich, a junior researcher at the Center for the Indian Ocean Region of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He notes that the Indian government is trying to maintain its own military-industrial complex, not only encouraging arms manufacturers to create military equipment in India under the Make in India program, but also creating export opportunities. The contract with Armenia is particularly noteworthy, although much of this success can be attributed to the employment of Russian industry in modern circumstances. Makarevich notes that many of the currently sought-after Indian weapons are based on Russian ones. "At the same time, the threat that Indian weapons will actually be able to replace Russian ones is unlikely," the expert believes.
According to Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, the goals set by India are too ambitious. So far, we can say that Indian defense products are still quite raw, despite attractive prices. Such buyers of Indian weapons as Armenia and Sri Lanka have seen this from their experience in operating a number of samples. At the same time, cooperation between Russia and India in the markets of third countries has prospects - for example, the Russian-Indian Brahmos supersonic missile was acquired by countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines, and the latter country has almost never bought Russian weapons.
