The Indian public aircraft manufacturer announced on Tuesday that it had signed a contract with Russian aerospace giant United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), under US and European sanctions, to produce aircraft in India. According to the Indian public company Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the agreement, signed on Monday in Moscow, will allow “for the first time to produce passenger aircraft entirely in India.”
United Aircraft Corporation, controlled by the Russian state, is the subject of sanctions adopted by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom against Moscow. This announcement could spark tensions between India’s Western partners, particularly Washington, which has accused it on numerous occasions of financing the war in Ukraine through its oil purchases from Russia. India has refused to join votes condemning Moscow at the United Nations and has said it does not support sanctions against Russia.
100 planes
Under the agreement signed in Moscow on Monday, HAL will partner with UAC to produce SJ-100 twin-engine narrow-body aircraft for the domestic aviation market. The Minister of Defense stressed the importance of this contract in terms of short-haul air transport in the most populated country on the planet, with 1.4 billion inhabitants. According to him, this device represents a “real game changer” in terms of regional connectivity.
This contract underlines the close ties that New Delhi and Moscow continue to maintain in the defense and energy sectors, despite growing pressures linked to India’s purchases of Russian oil. In late August, US President Donald Trump imposed a 50% surcharge on all Indian exports in retaliation for Indian purchases of Russian oil, believing that Russian oil fuels Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Last week, Donald Trump claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop imports of Russian oil, as part of the trade deal currently being negotiated. India has neither confirmed nor denied his comments.
Source: BFM TV
