Is India arming Ukraine?

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

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Is India arming Ukraine?

According to a Reuters exclusive, some European countries have been diverting Indian-made arms and ammunition to Ukraine. The scoop is based on conversations with 11 Indian and European government and defence industry officials. They say a small amount—around 1%—of Kyiv’s weapons come from India.

But here’s the shady bit—Indian arms exports have soared since the Russian invasion:

In the two years before the February 2022 invasion, three major Indian ammunition makers - Yantra, Munitions India and Kalyani Strategic Systems - exported just $2.8 million in munitions components to Italy and the Czech Republic, as well as Spain and Slovenia. Between February 2022 and July 2024, the figure had increased to $135.25 million.

What’s damning: The same sources claim that India knew what was happening—in clear violation of its own regulations—but looked the other way. And the matter has been raised by Moscow twice already. Reminder: The India-Russia bhai-bhai military partnership goes back decades—Russia continues to supply over 60% of India’s arms imports.

The denial: The External Affairs Ministry has already termed the report “speculative and misleading. It implies violations by India, where none exist and hence, is inaccurate and mischievous." That’s an oddly long-winded way to say ‘no, we didn’t do it’. While they were at it, the ministry also pointed out their chaste refusal to supply arms to Israel: “In the initial days of their Gaza offensive, they needed artillery shells, 155mm and 105mm; but we took a policy decision not to supply them.” We recommend reading the Reuters scoop.

Also embarrassing for New Delhi: The Indian government has been summoned by a US court in a lawsuit filed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Yup, that’s the Khalistani leader a RAW officer tried to assassinate—but got caught when he stupidly hired an undercover US agent to do the job (See: this Big Story). In any case, Pannun has now filed a civil lawsuit accusing the government of trying to kill him—naming National Security Advisor Ajit Doval among others. Unsurprisingly, New Delhi dismissed the summons and allegations as “unsubstantiated.” However, the lawsuit is embarrassing as it comes ahead of PM Modi’s visit to the US slated for September 21 to 23—which was likely Pannun’s aim. (Indian Express)

A compendium of war-related news

First and always, an Israeli bombing: After Tel Aviv killed 37 people—and injured more than 2,300—by rigging pagers and walkie talkies to explode, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah promised retribution. Israel promptly punished Lebanon for that kind of uppity talk with 70 air strikes. Nasrallah recorded a video in the midst of the bombings—where he said: “This type of killing, targeting and crime may be unprecedented in the world”—and “crossed all red lines.” Mercifully, there are no reports of casualties.

What to watch for: If Hezbollah does indeed retaliate for what is undoubtedly a humiliation. Not to do so would confirm Tel Aviv achieved its goal—incapacitate Hezbollah fighters even as it threatens a ground invasion. (New York Times)

About those pagers: They were designed and made by a Budapest-registered company—BAC Consulting KFT. It was authorised to use the logo of a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, Gold Apollo, in certain regions. What’s interesting:

BAC appears to be part of an Israeli front, according to 3 intelligence officers briefed on the operation. They said at least two other shell companies were created as well to mask the real identities of the people creating the pagers: Israeli intelligence officers.

The Telegraph has that story.

Speaking of pagers: We appreciate the Lebanese capacity for black humour—even in the face of tragedy:

Next, yet another UN resolution: The General Assembly overwhelmingly voted for a resolution demanding an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of “occupied Palestinian Territory” within a year. The resolution is non-binding—and passed by 124-14 vote—with 43 countries abstaining. The only major Western power to vote against the measure… do we really have to say it? As for India, we abstained, of course. Al Jazeera looks at whether it will change anything.

The Saudis pipe up: In the midst of all this talk of Israeli occupation, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the kingdom will not establish diplomatic ties with Israel—without the “establishment of a Palestinian state.” This isn’t exactly surprising. But it is the official last nail in the coffin for the US plan for a ‘new Middle East’—where Arabs and Tel Aviv would cosy up together to take on Iran. FYI: That was the trigger for the October 7 attack on Israel, as well. We explained this in great detail in this vid and/or this Big Story. (Reuters)

An Ivy League shocker for Asian students

The context: Asian students—including Indians—have long opposed affirmative action in US universities. According to them, using race as a factor in admission—to ensure greater diversity—was a “barrier to our upward mobility.” Their wishes came true last year when the Supreme Court essentially overturned affirmative action—in a lawsuit brought against Harvard by advocacy groups. And Asian parents eagerly awaited a jump in Ivy league admissions for their bachhas.

What happened now: Sadly, those dreams seem to have been crushed—at least, in Princeton, Duke and Yale:

Asian American enrollment dropped to 29% from 35% at Duke; to 24% from 30% at Yale; and to 23.8% from 26% at Princeton. At the same time, Black enrollment rose to 13% from 12% at Duke; stayed at 14% at Yale; and dropped to 8.9% from 9% at Princeton.

Now, many more students chose not to check boxes for race and ethnicity on their application this year. So there may well be more Asian kids in the mix. To be fair, the number of Asian Americans admitted to Columbia actually rose—and remained steady at Harvard.

What’s next: The same advocacy groups are already threatening to sue these universities: “Based on [our] extensive experience, your racial numbers are not possible under true neutrality… You are now on notice. Preserve all potentially relevant documents and communications.” Sigh! (New York Times, login required, NBC News)

The curious case of Kangana’s flick

The context: Kangana Ranaut has pinned her stalling career hopes on her upcoming release ‘Emergency’—where she plays Indira Gandhi. But the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has not certified the film for release. Co-producer Zee Entertainment therefore appealed to the Bombay High Court—asking it to step in.

What happened now: The court proceedings have revealed a spicy bit of political masala. Zee Entertainment told the court that the CBFC was dragging its feet on BJP orders. The reason: it may hurt the BJP in Haryana:

Senior Advocate Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for Zee, said that the movie is seen as an anti-Sikh film and there is a sizeable population of Sikhs in Haryana… and the Central government led by BJP does not want a film that hurts Sikh sentiments to be released before elections.

The CBFC counsel sorta confirmed the reason as well:

"There are some scenes in the movie wherein a person, a polarising figure of particular religious persuasion is cutting a deal with political parties. We have to see whether this is factually accurate."

The Court dismissed the reasoning, declaring:

This is a movie and not a documentary. Do you think that the public is so naive that they will believe everything that they see in a movie? What about creative freedom? It is not for the CBFC to decide whether this affects public order. This has to stop otherwise we are completely curtailing creative freedom.

Nice, but we wonder what these courts were doing when the government was leaning on Netflix—for a non-issue on ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’. (Bar & Bench)

Payal Kapadia’s long road to the Oscars

The context: Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ won the Grand Prix award at Cannes earlier this year. The movie was an international co-production involving a number of studios. As a result, it could have been submitted as an entry for an Oscar—for best International Film—by at least five different countries.

What happened now: The film was one of three candidates being seriously considered by France—which opted for Jacques Audiard’s ‘Emilia Perez’ in the end. But fear not—it may end up as India’s nominee instead. But the movie has to be screened in theatres to qualify—as per Oscar rules. Therefore, the Indian producer—Rana Daggubati—is releasing it in Kerala for a limited time—on September 21. Reminder: The submission deadline to the Oscars is October 2—and all candidates have to be released in their country of origin by September 30. (Variety)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Tupperware may be bankrupt in the US—it’s still “business as usual” for the company’s India operations, particularly in manufacturing.
Say hello to YouTube Hype—a new feature aimed at boosting smaller content creators.
Pivot to video? Substack will now allow creators to stream live videos on its platform. For more on why news pubs are pivoting, check out part one and part two of our Big Story on the collapse of online news.
The European Union (EU) has slapped an ultimatum on Apple—open up the iPhone’s operating system, or pay a hefty fine under antitrust rules.
404 Media (login required) has a must-read on how a delivery robot ran over a student on a US college campus, and the parent company offered the victim “promo codes” as an apology.

sports & entertainment

Former Sri Lanka cricketer Dulip Samaraweera has been banned from coaching in Australia due to “utterly reprehensible” conduct towards a female player.
Tickets will be selling “at the speed of sound” when Coldplay make their long-awaited return to India next year, as part of their Asia tour.
It’s official—in the wake of Film Companion’s shutdown, The Hollywood Reporter has launched its India arm, with Anupama Chopra as its inaugural Editor.
Call Amazon Bae! The streaming service has renewed Ananya Panday’s new sitcom for a second season.
YouTuber Mr Beast and Amazon are being sued by contestants in their reality show ‘Beast Games’. They allege “chronic mistreatment” and sexual harassment, among other abuse.

as for the rest

An update on the RG Kar rape-murder case—protesting junior doctors have called off their strike, and will resume emergency services from September 21. Check out our Big Story for more on the fallout of the case.
The Delhi High Court has denied bail to British activist Jagtar Singh Johal, who was arrested in 2017 for killings in Punjab.
A new BBC documentary details disturbing rape allegations against the late former owner of Harrods, Mohamed Al-Fayed—the father of Princess Diana’s boyfriend Dodi Fayed, who died with her in the tragic car crash in 1997.

Two things to see

One: The Drone Photo Awards honour the best in aerial photography across nine categories. Our fave in the shortlist is ‘Minimalist Action’ shot by Alex Berasategi, which you can see below:

Check out more of this year’s shortlisted photographs here, or this gallery in The Guardian.

Two: To mark Batman’s 85th birthday, Mattel launched two new $55 Barbie dolls—of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. According to Gizmodo, Harley looks like Margot Robbie who played the character in ‘Suicide Squad’—while Ivy resembles Uma Thurman—as she was in the 1997 ‘Batman & Robin’.

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