Indian firm says it shipped non-military explosives to Russia

REUTERS
Published :
Jul 26, 2025 19:02
Updated :
Jul 26, 2025 19:29



An Indian firm that shipped $1.4 million worth of an explosive compound with military uses to Russia in December said on Saturday it complies with Indian rules and the substance it had shipped was for civilian industrial purposes.

Reuters reported on July 24 that Ideal Detonators Private Limited shipped the compound, known as HMX or octogen, to two Russian explosives manufacturers despite U.S. threats to impose sanctions on any entity supporting Russia's Ukraine war effort.

One of the Russian companies listed in Indian customs data as receiving the compound is the explosives manufacturer Promsintez. An official at Ukraine's SBU security service has said the Russian company has ties to the military and that Ukraine launched a drone attack in April against a Promsintez-owned factory.

Promsintez did not respond to a request for comment.

Ideal Detonators said in an emailed response to Reuters that the material it shipped was not military grade. "The shipment ... is for industrial activity and it's a civil explosive," the company said.

The U.S. government has identified HMX as "critical for Russia's war effort" and has warned financial institutions against facilitating any sales of the substance to Moscow.

The U.S. Treasury Department has the authority to sanction those who sell HMX and similar substances to Russia, sanctions lawyers have said.

HMX is widely used in missile and torpedo warheads, rocket motors, exploding projectiles and plastic-bonded explosives for advanced military systems, according to the Pentagon's Defense Technical Information Center and related defense research programs. The compound also has some limited civilian applications in mining and other industrial activities.

​

India PM Modi speaks to Russia’s Putin, discusses Ukraine

REUTERS
Published :
Aug 08, 2025 20:50
Updated :
Aug 08, 2025 20:50


India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media on the first day of the monsoon session at Parliament house in New Delhi, India, July 21, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine.

The conversation between the two leaders came days after US President Donald Trump announced an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods to penalise New Delhi for continuing to buy Russian oil.

The penalty took the total levy on Indian goods exported to the US to 50 percent, among the highest levied on any US trading partner.

“Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine,” Modi said in a post on X.

India’s foreign ministry said Modi invited Putin to New Delhi for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit later this year.

The two leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia,” the ministry said in a statement.

Modi also spoke with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by phone on Thursday, discussing a broad range of topics that included high tariffs imposed by the US.

Trade talks between India and the United States collapsed after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India’s vast farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases.

Modi’s conversation with Putin also came a day after Russia and India stressed their commitment to a “strategic partnership” in bilateral security talks in Moscow between Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Sergei Shoigu, secretary of Russia’s Security Council.​

Russia's Putin in India for defence, trade talks
AFPNew Delhi, India
Published: 04 Dec 2025, 20: 34


Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China, 1 September, 2025.Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in India on Thursday for a two-day visit aimed at deepening defence ties, as New Delhi faces heavy US pressure to stop buying oil from Moscow.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is facing heavy US pressure to stop buying oil from Moscow, was at the airport to welcome the Russian leader in person, greeting him on the red carpet with a hug, before riding together in the same car.

Putin, on his first visit to India since the Ukraine war, is accompanied by his Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, with possible deals on fighter jets and air defence systems expected to be discussed.

In an interview with India Today, Putin said he was "very happy" to be meeting "my friend" Modi.

"The range of our cooperation with India is huge," he said in remarks translated by the broadcaster, citing ship and aircraft manufacturing, nuclear energy and space exploration.

Modi will host Putin for a private dinner on Thursday evening, followed by a summit meeting on Friday.

Beyond defence, trade relations are expected to feature prominently as India walks a diplomatic tightrope -- relying on strategic Russian oil imports while trying not to provoke US President Donald Trump during ongoing tariff negotiations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said talks to expand the supply of Russia's advanced S-400 air defence systems had an "important place on the agenda".

Indian media reports suggested Moscow may also offer co-production of Russia's Su-57 fighter jets.

India is one of the world's top arms importers, and Russia has long been a principal supplier.

But New Delhi has also sought alternative suppliers, as well as boosting domestic production -- with the Russian share of India's arms imports falling from 76 per cent in 2009-13 to 36 per cent in 2019-23, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Energy imports

Putin's visit comes after Trump imposed 50-percent tariffs on most Indian products in August, citing Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil -- revenue Washington argues helps fund the war in Ukraine.

India, the world's most populous nation, has become a major buyer of Russian oil, saving itself billions of dollars and providing Moscow with a much-needed export market after it was cut off from traditional buyers in Europe because of the war.

But Delhi has recently cut down on crude imports under pressure from sanctions on Russia's top oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil.

The Indian government fears any fresh energy or defence deals with Russia could irk Trump, with possible ramifications on trade negotiations with Washington.

Peskov said Russia was not concerned about US tariffs.

"What concerns us is how we are going to maintain and increase the volume of our bilateral business with India, without allowing anyone to interfere," he said Tuesday at a briefing for Indian media organised by Sputnik India.

Nandan Unnikrishnan, of the New Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation, told AFP: "There may be some reduction in energy purchases -- under US pressure -- but the overall direction of the ties will be maintained because both countries need each other at the strategic level."

'Critical moment'

A senior Indian foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was a need to address the trade imbalance "one way or the other".

Bilateral trade reached USD 68.7 billion in 2024-25 -- almost six times higher than the pre-pandemic levels -- but Indian exports accounted for only USD 4.88 billion.

Delhi has been pressing Moscow for expanded market access for its key industries including pharmaceuticals, automobiles and the service sector.

Harsh V Pant, a professor of international relations at King's College London, said the visit was an attempt by "to reset their relationship at a critical geopolitical moment for both".

"For India, the optics is a statement of intent for strategic autonomy, and Putin, who rarely travels, is sending a message about the importance of the relationship by travelling here," Pant told AFP.

The Indian foreign ministry official described the ties between Moscow and Delhi as the "most stable relationship in modern times".

The official acknowledged the global geopolitical significance, but insisted that the meeting should seen in the context as "just another annual summit".​

Putin offers India ‘uninterrupted’ oil supply
Agence France-Presse . New Delhi 06 December, 2025, 00:43


Russian president Vladimir Putin. | File photo

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Friday he was ready to continue ‘uninterrupted shipments’ of fuel to India, as New Delhi faces heavy US pressure to stop buying oil from Moscow.

US president Donald Trump imposed punishing 50 per cent tariffs on most Indian products in August, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil — revenue Washington argues helps fund the war in Ukraine.

Prime minister Narendra Modi, who is hosting Putin at a summit in New Delhi dominated by energy, defence and trade talks, thanked the Russian leader for his ‘unwavering commitment towards India’.

Putin, on his first visit to close partner India since the Ukraine war, was given a red-carpet welcome with an honour guard and 21-gun salute.

‘Russia is a reliable supplier of oil, gas, coal, and everything that is required for the development of India’s energy,’ Putin told Modi after talks.

‘We are ready to continue uninterrupted shipments of fuel for the fast-growing Indian economy,’ he added, according to an official translator.

Modi said that ‘energy security has been a strong and important pillar of the India-Russia partnership’, and while he referenced nuclear power, he made no specific reference to oil.

India emerged as a major buyer of Russian oil after the start of the Ukraine war, providing Moscow with a crucial export market as Europe sharply reduced purchases.

In 2024, Russia supplied nearly 36 per cent of India’s total crude imports, around 1.8 million barrels of discounted oil per day.

New Delhi has recently reduced Russian crude imports under pressure.

Putin on Friday said he had shared with Modi ’a great deal of details about the events taking place in Ukraine’ and the efforts Moscow is taking ‘together with some partners, including the United States, on a possible peaceful settlement’.

Modi said that ‘India has always advocated for peace in relation to Ukraine’.

India is walking a diplomatic tightrope — relying on strategic Russian oil imports while trying not to provoke Trump during ongoing tariff negotiations with Washington.

‘Balancing acts are second nature to Indian foreign policy making,’ Pankaj Saran, a former Indian envoy to Russia, wrote in the Times of India on Friday.

Modi addressed ‘my friend’ Putin and praised New Delhi and Moscow’s longstanding ties.

‘We have agreed on an economic cooperation program until 2030,’ Modi told Putin, after officials exchanged a raft of agreements spanning jobs, health, shipping and chemicals.

‘This will ensure that our trade and investment are diversified, balanced, and sustainable.’

Bilateral trade reached $68.7 billion in 2024-25 — almost six times higher than the pre-pandemic levels — but Indian exports accounted for only $4.88 billion.

‘This visit is part of India’s diversification strategy, both in terms of strategic and economic, especially at a time when the US tariffs have hurt India,’ Ashok Malik of business consultancy The Asia Group told AFP.

India is one of the world’s top arms importers, and Russia has long been a principal supplier.

But New Delhi has also sought alternative suppliers, as well as boosting domestic production — with the Russian share of India’s arms imports falling from 76 per cent in 2009-13 to 36 per cent in 2019-23, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Besides discussions around cutting-edge defence hardware, which includes air defence systems, fighter jets, and nuclear submarines, New Delhi will push for easier access to the wider Russian market.

Defence ministers met as part of the talks, Indian foreign ministry official Vikram Misri said, but no final deal was struck.​