Following Speculation, MEA Denies India Sent Artillery Shells to Ukraine
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: Following speculation that Indian-made artillery shells may have reached Ukraine, the external affairs ministry on Thursday (January 4) denied India's involvement in the issue.
“We have also seen some media reports in this regard. We can categorically say that we have not sent any of these artillery ammunitions to Ukraine. Not exported, we have not sent,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters.
A video circulating on social media showing Ukrainian military personnel using 155 mm artillery shells generated speculation that the munitions may have been manufactured in India, the Deccan Herald reported.
Russia has raised the issue with New Delhi, a report in the Economic Times said, adding that India is among the countries that does not support ammunition to Ukraine.
It also reported citing anonymous sources that a Western country may have procured the artillery shells from India and “transported it to Ukraine via a European state which is a NATO member”.
Moscow and Kyiv have been at war since 2014 and hostilities escalated in February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, Russia began the single-largest aerial assault on Ukrainian cities, resulting in the deaths of scores of civilians.
Earlier this week, Russian officials reported that Ukrainian missiles had targeted cities in southern Russia and the Crimean peninsula, killing dozens of civilians.
India is one of the handful of major countries that have not criticised Russia publicly for its invasion of Ukraine.
It has also abstained on resolutions against Russia at various UN bodies.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba spoke over the phone on Wednesday about Russia's escalation of attacks and about conducting a meeting of the Indo-Ukrainian inter-governmental commission.
The phone call took place less than a week after Jaishankar returned from a five-day visit to Russia last month.
After his meeting, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had praised India for taking a “responsible approach” to discussing geo-political hotspots like Ukraine.
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