Indian Muslims hold placards with various messages during a protest against Israel and demand a stop to the war in Gaza, on October 13, 2023, in Kolkata City, India [Dipa Chakraborty/ Eyepix Group/Future Publishing via Getty Images]
A group of prominent figures in India have called on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to halt arms shipments to Israel. According to Indian media, former judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, economists and activists sent a letter to Defence Minister Singh, which read: “India should immediately suspend its cooperation with Israel on the shipment of military munitions and immediately make every effort to ensure that arms delivered to Israel are not used in genocide or violations of international humanitarian law.”
The figures demanded a review of all licenses issued to Indian companies to export military weapons and munitions to Israel. They called for continuing to keep details of export licenses, including the countries to which they are exported, available to the public. The figures also explained that the government granted licenses to at least three arms companies to export weapons to Israel during the war on Gaza and even after the International Court of Justice issued its decisions. The figures stressed that India is committed to various international laws and agreements that oblige it not to export military weapons to countries that commit war crimes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has not made any statement about sending arms to Israel, but previous press reports have confirmed that New Delhi is supplying weapons to Israel. In June, former Israeli ambassador to New Delhi Daniel Carmon remarked that India might supply Israel with weapons to “return the favour” for Israel’s assistance during the 1999 Kargil War.
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