
India dismisses NYT report on HAL re-routing sensitive tech to Russia, calls it 'factually incorrect and misleading'
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday strongly rejected a report published by The New York Times, calling it «factually incorrect and misleading.» Official sources stated that the report misrepresented facts and framed issues to suit a particular political narrative.
Responding to allegations concerning Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a state-owned defence company, the MEA asserted that HAL has always complied with international rules on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments.
«We (Ministry of External Affairs) have seen a report published by The New York Times. The said report is factually incorrect and misleading. It has tried to frame issues and distort facts to suit a political narrative. The Indian entity (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited-HAL) mentioned in the report has scrupulously followed all its international obligations on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments,» MEA sources told news agency ANI.
The ministry also highlighted India's strong legal and regulatory framework for strategic trade. It reaffirmed that all Indian companies conducting business overseas are guided by these regulations.
«India’s robust legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade continues to guide overseas commercial ventures by its companies. We expect reputed media outlets to undertake basic due diligence while publishing such reports, which obviously was overlooked in the instant case,» sources added.
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What Did the New York Times Report Say?
According to The New York Times, a British aerospace firm, HR Smith Group, allegedly shipped restricted technology to HAL between 2023 and 2024. The report suggested that HAL later transferred similar equipment to Russia’s state-owned arms agency,
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