The West’s sanctions on Moscow will “never” affect the defence partnership between India and Russia, the head of BrahMos Aerospace said on Wednesday. He said that “trust” is what makes this partnership work. For Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which was led by the US, the West, led by the US, has put in place crippling sanctions.
India and Russia work together to run BrahMos Aerospace, which makes supersonic missiles that can carry nuclear weapons.
The company makes the BrahMos missile and is making the BrahMos II, which is a hypersonic cruise missile, at the moment.
Atul Dinkar Rane, Managing Director and CEO of BrahMos Aerospace Indo-Russian Joint Venture, told TASS, the official Russian news agency, that the West’s efforts will not stop the Russia-India defence partnership or change how the company works.
“My gut feeling is that it’s never!” Rane said yes when asked if the West could stop India and Russia from working together on defence and security.
“And no one can do it, even if they try. Right now, the bonds between Indian scientists and Russian technologists are so strong that they can’t be broken. Even if a law says we can’t talk to Russia anymore and we have to start talking to someone else, we’ll always say it was easier to work with the Russians “Tass said what he said.
Rane said that India and Russia will be able to work together in spite of sanctions from the West because they trust each other.
Rane said, “The trust we’ve built up between the two partners is enough for us to work, and we are moving forward in spite of all these sanctions.”
Russia has always been India’s main source of arms.
India, unlike many other major Western powers, hasn’t directly criticised Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and it didn’t vote against the Russian invasion at the UN.
India has been pushing for diplomacy and talks to be used to solve the problem.
Rane also said that many countries outside of India have shown interest in buying different kinds of BrahMos cruise missiles.
“We got our first order from the Philippines,” Rane said, adding that five other countries have already placed orders.
“So far, I can say that they are from South East Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.”
He also said that BrahMos Aerospace plans to start sending missiles to the Philippines in the middle or second half of this year.
