JERUSALEM: A leading Israeli defence firm has said it intends to supply the first batch of 40,000 light machine guns (LMGs) to India starting early next year, while it is in the final stages of signing a contract to supply nearly 1,70,000 new-age carbines.
Shuki Schwartz, CEO of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), also said that his firm is currently collaborating with various agencies within India’s Ministry of Home Affairs to market their products, including pistols, rifles, and machine guns.
“We’re now involved in three significant programmes. First is the contract for 40,000 light machine guns, which was signed last year. We have completed all tests, trials, and government checks, and we have received the license for production. We intend to supply the first batch at the beginning of the year,” Schwartz told PTI in an interview.
“LMGs supply is for five years. We can do it faster, but the first supply will be at the beginning of the year,” he said when asked about the timeline of the supply.
Schwartz said the second programme involves the CQB (Close Quarters Battle) carbines tender, where the firm was the second bidder. Bharat Forge is the primary bidder.
“We intend to supply 40 per cent of the contract. We are in the stage of pre-signing of the contract, and I believe it will be finalised by the end of this year or the beginning of next year,” he said.
Sixty per cent of the CQB carbines supply will be sourced from Bharat Forge, while the remaining 40 per cent (170,000 units) will be delivered by PLR Systems, a subsidiary of the Adani Group.
On Arbel technology, the first computerised weapon system that uses a complex algorithm to determine when a soldier is on target and quickly strikes with high precision, Schwartz said that they are in the early stages of talks with India about integrating this technology into the country.
“We are in the initial stages of discussions with different agencies to adopt the Arbel systems. Once they take it, we will supply it through co-production in Israel and India,” he said.
He added that PLR Systems will handle the co-production locally in India.
“We are also collaborating with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and various agencies within MHA to sell our complete range of products, which includes pistols, rifles, and light machine guns. Our dealings involve smaller quantities across many contracts, and we have been working in this area for several years,” he said. When asked about annual supply numbers, he mentioned it could be “tens of thousands of weapons a year.”
He acknowledged that while the two major contracts will last for a few years, there is a demand for quicker delivery due to the current situation.
Schwartz emphasised that IWI was among the first companies to support the ‘Make in India’ initiative, contributing to the growth of local production and expansion in the Indian market.
He also highlighted a strong partnership with the Adani Group through PLR Systems, focusing on light weapons manufacturing and the integration of Arbel systems locally.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the India-Russia partnership has been among the “steadiest big relationships” in the last 70-80 years and President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi was about “reimagining” the ties with a focus on economic engagement.
In an interactive session, he also disagreed with views that Putin’s visit could complicate India’s negotiations with the US on a bilateral trade agreement.
“No, I disagree with you. I think everybody knows that India has relations with all the major countries in the world,” Jaishankar said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
“I think for any country to expect to have a veto or a say in how we develop our relations with others is not a reasonable proposition.”
Jaishankar was asked if Putin’s two-day visit to New Delhi that focused largely on significantly enhancing the economic dimension of India-Russia ties will have a bearing on the negotiations with the US for the proposed trade deal.
The External Affairs Minister acknowledged that the focus of the Trump administration has been on trade and noted that India’s approach in navigating it is totally driven by national interests.
The India-US relations are going through possibly the worst phase in the last two decades after Washington imposed a whopping 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, including 25 per cent levies for New Delhi’s procurement of Russian crude oil.
The two sides are currently holding negotiations for the proposed a trade deal “We believe that there can be a landing point for our respective trade interests. Obviously, that is something which will be negotiated hard because it has an implication for livelihoods in this country,” he said.
On President Putin’s trip to India, Jaishankar said for a “big” and “rising” country like India, it is important to maintain good cooperation with as many important players as possible in the world in line with freedom of choice.
“I think if you look at India-Russia, the world has seen a lot of ups and downs in the last 70-80 years. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, India, Russia have actually been among the steadiest big relationships, big power or big country relationships in the world,” he said.
“Even Russia’s own relationship with China or US or Europe has had its ups and downs. Our relationships with many of these countries have had it too,” he added. Putin’s visit in many ways was about reimagining the relationship, he said.
“We are the world’s second biggest fertiliser importer after Brazil. It’s a recurring issue that we have. And also because the fertilizer sources have been very unstable. They’ve turned on and turned off the tap. So we had an agreement to create an important substantial joint venture on fertilizers,” he said.
On India’s ties with China, Jaishankar said the key point that New Delhi made was that peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a prerequisite for good relations and it is being maintained and is being built upon.
“But it’s not like that was the only issue in the relationship. There were many other issues, some of which predated Galwan. So there are issues about trade, there are issues about investment, there are issues about competition, about subsidies, about fairness, about transparency,” he said.
To a question on Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Jaishankar said much of India’s problem emanates from the military of that country and even referred to its support for terror groups.
“I think for us, the reality of the Pakistani army has always been and much of our problems actually emanate from them. When you look at the terrorism, when you look at the training camps, when you look at the sort of a policy of almost ideological hostility towards India, where does that come from? It comes from the army,” he said.