New Delhi

India’s defence sector will not face any problems because of the western sanctions on Russia as Moscow has inherent military strength and is self-sufficient in its production capabilities, Niti Aayog member VK Saraswat said on Wednesday.

Russia is one of the biggest suppliers of defence products and equipment to India mostly under government-to-government contracts.

“Russia has got inherent military strength, they have a very good military equipment manufacturing infrastructure and by and large they are self-sufficient in their production capabilities,” he told PTI.

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced that the US would ban the import of Russian oil and gas, targeting the main artery of Russia’s economy, in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The UK government has also imposed tough sanctions against five Russian banks and three super-rich oligarchs from the country over President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive action on the Ukraine border.

“So, in my opinion, the reserve is very high. These kinds of short-term sanctions are not likely to create any problems for India,” Saraswat, former chief of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.

He was replying to a question on whether sanctions on Russia by the West will impact India’s defence imports.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already said that now the government wants to have 68 per cent of defence equipment of indigenous variety.

“And that is why in Budget 2022-23, the finance minister announced that now there should be more and more Indian industry which should manufacture military equipment for the armed forces,” he said.

The Niti Aayog member noted that the government’s call for ‘Aatmanirbharata’ is also applicable to the defence sector in a big way.

According to Saraswat, that is why the defence ministry and other scientific departments are now bringing more and more industries to the fore.