From Strategic Partnership to Wartime Supply Chain

India's defense relationship with Israel has undergone a consequential transformation. Once primarily a purchaser of Israeli military technology, India has become an important manufacturing partner in the supply chain that sustains Israel's defense industry. A new Amnesty International investigation argues that this relationship continued to deepen even as Israel's military operations devastated Gaza and generated allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Researchers combed through customs declarations, corporate documents, shipping records and shipment-level trade data to create Amnesty's 42-page report Made in India: The Supply of Weapons and Ammunition to Israel. They traced 2,596 consignments of weapons, ammunition, military parts, and components shipped from India to Israel between Oct. 7, 2023, and Nov. 30, 2025. Included were at least 390,516 small-arms components, 564,970 explosive-ordnance components, and 298 military vehicle parts, the report found. Amnesty says the team excluded goods that could have plausibly been for civilian purposes. (Amnesty International report) 

It doesn't prove that all items of Indian origin were ultimately placed in a weapon that ended up being used in Gaza. However, the volume, duration and known destinations of the shipments merit questions in New Delhi that can't be brushed aside as standard business.

How a Shocking Export from India Ended Up on Front Lines in Gaza

The case first made global headlines on May 20,24, when a commercial ship named the Borkum, which had departed from Chennai, began docking in Spain with military supplies allegedly bound for the port city of Ashdod in Israel. Records showed by Amnesty through shipping and customs data that were on board included rocket motors, rockets filled with explosive payloads, and advanced explosives made by Indian corporations such as Premier Explosives and Munitions India, which is state-run.

Spain denied the ship permission to land after public outcry over arms being sent to Israel. The incident demonstrated how easy it was to send arms under the pretense of legitimate business with little regard for ports and hubs far removed from the actual fighting.

Israeli responsibility for the tragedy became even murkier after yet another Israeli airstrike targeted a UN-run school housing displaced Palestinians on June 6, 2024, in the town of Nuseirat refugee camp. That bombing killed over 30 Palestinians.  Amnesty's report points to photos showing remnants of weapon fragments containing Indian markings where they were manufactured. While fragment analysis can't automatically trace back to who deployed the weapon in question, it can match up specific Indian-made batches to individual military strikes where civilians were killed.

Public and Private Industry

The Amnesty investigation identifies a network involving both private manufacturers and government-controlled companies. State-owned enterprises named in the report include Munitions India Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited and India Optel Limited. These companies were created following the 2021 restructuring of India's Ordnance Factory Board.

Private firms reportedly involved include Premier Explosives, Kalyani Strategic Systems, Indo-MIM and other manufacturers of explosives, artillery parts and precision-engineered components. The presence of state-owned companies is especially significant because it weakens any suggestion that these exports were simply independent commercial decisions over which the government exercised little control.

The Indo-Israel joint ventures on the network are PLR Systems, which is partnered with Israel Weapon Industries, and Alpha Elsec Defense and Aerospace Systems, founded with Israel's Elbit Systems. This demonstrates how Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make in India" initiative and Atmanirbhar Bharat vision have attracted foreign players to bring defense technology to India and widen manufacturing here.

But they also expose the policy's moral weakness. Israeli technology and Indian manufacturing capabilities are now so deeply intertwined that India may not simply be buying arms for its self-defense. India has become an upstream supplier to an industry that is enabling a major war.

A Reversed but Interdependent Relationship

Israel has long been an important supplier of drones, missiles, surveillance systems and precision-guided weapons to India, particularly since the 1999 Kargil conflict. The relationship was originally driven by India's security requirements concerning Pakistan, China and domestic militancy.

It has now become reciprocal. Indian companies produce components that Israeli manufacturers incorporate into more complex systems, while India continues importing Israeli military technology. The principal Israeli recipients identified by Amnesty include Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems—all major suppliers to the Israeli armed forces.

This symbiosis partially explains why New Delhi has been reluctant to halt exports. Defense production provides skilled jobs, enhances India's technological capabilities and advances its goal of becoming an international arms dealer. Israel also benefits by maintaining India as a key strategic partner in intelligence, agriculture, cybersecurity and defense.

These interests are real. But strategic value cannot remove the obligation to assess how exported military goods are likely to be used.

The Question of Legal Complicity

Amnesty argues that India faces a substantial risk of complicity because transfers continued after repeated public warnings about grave violations in Gaza. The International Court of Justice issued provisional measures in 2024 directing Israel to prevent acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention and facilitate humanitarian assistance. These were precautionary orders rather than a final judicial determination that genocide had occurred—a distinction essential to accurate reporting. (International Court of Justice case record)

However, these orders did serve to place governments on notice that the risk was real enough to warrant preventative action now. Amnesty says India can no longer plausibly claim ignorance about the risk that military exports could be used to violate international law. (Findings by Amnesty International)  

India's government has countered that exports, including dual-use products, are governed by strong laws and regulations and are carried out in a manner consistent with Indian and international law. India is not party to the Arms Trade Treaty. However, India remains a signatory to other international treaties, such as the Genocide Convention, and is bound by principles of customary international law, including those on state responsibility.

In September 2024, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a petition seeking licenses that allowed the export of weapons to Israel to be revoked. The Supreme Court held that it cannot interfere in matters of foreign policy or assess the actions of a foreign sovereign. But it doesn't say whether the exports were legal or that the executive cannot be held responsible; it simply says that the remedy demanded is not one the Court can give. (Summary of Supreme Court proceedings) 

India Must Choose What Kind of Power It Will Become

The issue is larger than India's relationship with Israel. It concerns the kind of global power India seeks to be. A country that invokes anti-colonial solidarity, supports Palestinian statehood and aspires to lead the Global South cannot treat civilian suffering as irrelevant when commercial and strategic interests are involved.

India should immediately halt exports of arms and dual-use goods to Gaza until transparent, product-specific human-rights due diligence is conducted. India should make its licensing decisions public, along with the intended recipients and mitigation strategies if diversion is a risk. Both government and private companies should be held to stringent due diligence standards.

“Make in India” will one day inspire pride when it leads to technological, job, and strategic autonomy. When you discover Indian markings on debris from a civilian shelter, however, those three words take on a different connotation. Economic aspirations and ethical culpability are inseparable.  Responsible powers hold themselves accountable not just for what they produce but also for where their goods are exported and what they’re used for.