Anger as it emerges Welsh Government met Indian arms firm linked to Israel

Martin Shipton

South Asian political groups in Britain have raised concerns after it emerged that the Welsh Government had met an Indian arms company linked to Israel at last month’s Farnborough International Airshow.

Sagar Defence Engineering, which specialises in unmanned drones and crewless vessels, publicised its meeting with Welsh Government representatives on social media.

Enterprise, Connectivity and Energy Cabinet Minister Adam Price also attended the airshow, described by the Campaign Against Arms Trade as one of Britain’s biggest arms fairs.

Mukti Shah, spokesperson for the South Asia Solidarity Group, said: “We are horrified to learn that Sagar Defence Engineering is now in talks with the Welsh Government.

“Sagar Defence Engineering works in partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries, which is one of Israel’s big three defence firms, along with Rafael and Elbit, and is notorious for its role in the genocide of Palestinians.

“India is the biggest buyer of Israeli weapons globally and Sagar’s collaboration with Israel involves using drones and other technology tested on Palestinians against Kashmiris protesting against India’s occupation, and increasingly on India’s peoples’ movements who are standing up to [Indian Prime Minister] Modi’s repressive Hindu supremacist regime.”

The concerns have been echoed by Professor Anandi Ramamurthy of Sheffield Hallam University, a human rights campaigner and author of Black Star, an acclaimed history of the Asian Youth Movements of 1970s and 1980s Britain:

“Everyone should be alarmed at the increasing military alliance between Israel and an India run by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” he said.

“Here are two regimes that are based on an ethno-supremacist ideology which regards genocide as normal and openly promotes the elimination of indigenous peoples.”

Professor Ramamurthy said the BJP’s Hindutva ideology, which emphasises the idea of India as a Hindu nation, has contributed to discrimination against religious minorities.

“In the case of India, the Hindutva ideology actively promotes the notion of India as a Hindu nation, trampling the rights of millions of indigenous Muslims, Christians and tribals,” he said.

“In recent years we have seen pogroms against Muslims, attempts by the Indian state to demolish Muslim neighbourhoods, along with the repression of Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim.

“Regarding Israel, the world has witnessed in real time the horrors of the Zionist regime and the genocide they have committed against the Palestinian people.

“Why would the Welsh Government want to align themselves with such regimes who are indicted by the International Criminal Court? This is the time to defend human rights.”

Serious consequences

Nupur Paliwal, a student in Wales and a spokesperson for the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in the UK, said closer links between Wales and India’s arms industry could have serious consequences.

She said Indian businesses were becoming increasingly involved in the country’s military relationship with Israel.

“Indian enterprises have extended support to the genocidal project by emerging as a key supplier of military parts, ammunition and defence infrastructure,” she said.

The activist warned against bringing more arms industries into Wales.

“Inviting private capital to exploit our resources in the service of war lies against the interests of the people of Wales,” she said.

“As progressive Indian students in Wales, we see worrying links between this possible partnership and the joint venture contracts we have been resisting back home.

“SFI members in India have faced multiple instances of detention during anti-war protests outside the Israeli embassy.

“An alliance between the Welsh Government and Indian defence firms would be disloyal to both nations’ legacy of internationalist solidarity with the Palestinian people.

“The working people in both countries have been undertaking solidarity action to push for divestment from arms manufacturers complicit in genocide, and we will continue to stand against the ongoing occupation of Palestine.”

Human rights

Adam Johannes of Cardiff Stop the War Coalition said the meeting could not be viewed in isolation from the record of India’s BJP government.

“This was not an innocent meeting conducted in some political vacuum,” he said. “Modi’s government has faced years of criticism over human rights.

“Against that record, the Welsh Government’s embrace of India’s arms industry raises an obvious question: what exactly does its promise of an ‘ethical’ defence sector mean?”

He also accused the Welsh Government of a lack of transparency over its engagement with arms companies, saying: “Something that goes hand in hand with the global arms trade is secrecy. The less the public knows about the relationships being built between governments and the arms industry, the easier those relationships become to defend.”

He pointed to the controversy surrounding Adam Price’s attendance at Farnborough, arguing that subsequent Welsh Government statements deliberately gave a false impression that they had only met with civilian businesses.

“We now know that Adam Price held a high-level meeting with ADS Group, the main arms industry trade and lobby group, to discuss the new Plaid administration’s implementation of the Wales Defence Growth Deal.

“The deal aims to suck more Welsh businesses, universities and colleges into Britain’s military-industrial complex. It envisages expanding military testing in Wales, including drones, and developing Wales as a UK launchpad for autonomous weapon systems capable of operating with little or no human oversight.

“Economic development should mean building a better future for people here, not helping expand an industry that profits from war elsewhere. There is nothing inevitable about Wales becoming more deeply integrated into the global arms trade and the UK military-industrial complex. It is a political choice of the Welsh Government.”

Employer

The Welsh Government’s position on attending arms fairs was encapsulated in this statement earlier this month: “Farnborough Air Show is an important trade event for civil aerospace, which is an important employer in Wales. The Minister met with several aerospace companies, including Airbus, as well as ADS, who are a key trade association for aerospace.

“We will continue to engage with the aerospace, defence, security, and national resilience sectors to support the thousands of high-tech, well-paid jobs in Wales, while promoting respect for human rights and international law. An ethical defence framework is being developed, informed by discussions with Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive counterparts, and will guide future engagement with the sector.”