SL sells weapons to India

TUESDAY, 13 AUGUST 2013 

The Sri Lankan government has sold weapons to the Indian Government during the past three years, the Indian Defence Minister informed the Lok Sabha yesterday.

In a written reply to a Lok Sabha query on Monday, Defence Minister A. K. Antony said India’s three forces have spent more than Indian rupees 2.35 lakh crore for procuring weapon systems from several countries including Russia, Israel, the US, Britain, Poland, Slovakia, Finland and Sri Lanka.

According to the data provided by the Three Services’ headquarters, Russia has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the imports by India by bagging business worth more than one lakh crore rupees.

Of the three forces, the Indian Army emerged as the biggest spender from 2010-11 to 2012-13 with purchases of more than 1.92 lakh crore rupees, Mr. Antony said in his reply.

In the Army procurement, the major expenditure has been on procuring missiles and armaments worth over one lakh crore rupees.

The Defence Minister said the Indian Government has changed the procurement procedure for promoting self-reliance in weapon manufacturing by giving priority to indigenous production.