In July 2026, Amnesty International published a comprehensive 42-page investigative report titled “Made in India: The Supply of Weapons and Ammunition to Israel.” The document delivers a detailed, data-driven reconstruction of how India has evolved into an essential manufacturing node in Israel’s weapon supply chain during the genocide in Gaza. Drawing upon shipment-level customs registries, export records, maritime manifests, and corporate filings, the human rights organisation argues that India’s continued authorisation and transfer of military hardware to Tel Aviv places the nation at serious risk of legal complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The publication arrives at a critical juncture in global international law discussions, providing concrete trade data to demonstrate that India’s support for Israel’s military apparatus extends far beyond diplomatic alignment or parliamentary abstentions. It reveals a deeply integrated industrial network where Indian foundries, state-owned ordnance factories, and private defence contractors manufacture critical components that feed directly into the frontline operations of the Israel Defence Forces.
The Scale and Substance of the Exports
The core of Amnesty International’s investigation rests on a dataset analyzing 2,596 distinct shipments of military weapons, ammunition, parts, and vehicle components exported from Indian ports to Israel between October 7, 2023, and November 30, 2025. Researchers utilized international Harmonized System trade codes, specifically focusing on classifications such as HS Code 93 covering arms and ammunition and HS Code 8710 covering armored fighting vehicles and their parts. To maintain strict analytical rigor, investigators excluded dual-use items that could reasonably be intended for civilian applications or specialized defensive platforms like the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
Despite these conservative exclusions, the quantitative figures remain staggering. According to the report, Indian companies transferred at least 390,516 military-grade small-arms components during the period under review. These shipments contained essential assemblies specifically engineered for automatic weapons, including machine gun firing mechanisms, weapon barrels, trigger units, and receiver assemblies.
Concurrently, the investigation documented 564,970 components belonging to explosive ordnance. This category encompasses vital inputs for heavy munitions manufacturing, such as 155mm high-explosive artillery shell casings, warhead assemblies for loitering munitions, and drone strike components. Additionally, the data recorded 298 specialized parts destined for armored military vehicles utilized by Israeli ground forces.
These components do not disappear into an anonymous global market. Amnesty tracked the consignments directly to the doorstep of Israel’s three largest state and private defence giants: Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems. These corporations serve as the primary industrial engine supplying heavy artillery, aerial drones, loitering munitions, and armoured platforms directly to active military units in Gaza.
Field Evidence and Physical Footprints
The report connects abstract shipping ledgers to physical occurrences on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. While component exports are rarely visible once integrated into complex weapons platforms, the investigation highlights notable instances where Indian manufacturing footprints were recovered from strike locations.
In one documented case, fragments of loitering munitions recovered following an Israeli attack in Khan Younis revealed warhead designs and electronic component architecture identical to explosive systems produced through Indian supply pipelines. These loitering platforms, often referred to as suicide or kamikaze drones, rely heavily on specialized warhead components manufactured in precision machine facilities across India.
The findings complement earlier high-profile incidents during the war, such as the June 2024 Israeli strike on a United Nations shelter at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. Devastated survivors sifting through the rubble of the damaged compound filmed missile fragments clearly bearing “Made in India” stampings. The strike resulted in at least 33 fatalities, including 23 women and children, and permanently life-altering injuries. Similarly, maritime incidents such as the May 2024 interception of the cargo vessel Borkum off the coast of Spain revealed shipments originating from Chennai containing 20 tonnes of rocket engines, 12.5 tonnes of explosive-fitted rockets, and 1,500 kilograms of specialized military propellants bound for Israel’s Ashdod port.
The Corporate Network: State Ownership and Private Joint Ventures
A central finding of the Amnesty report is that India’s arms pipeline to Israel is not merely the result of rogue private suppliers, but involves direct participation from enterprises owned and controlled by the Indian government. Following the 2021 restructuring of the historic Ordnance Factory Board into distinct Defence Public Sector Undertakings, several state-owned corporations entered directly into production agreements with Israeli buyers.
The investigation specifically names Munitions India Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, and India Optel Limited, all wholly owned government entities, as active exporters of ammunition components, optical sights, and firearm structures entering Israeli military supply lines.
Parallel to these public sector entities is an extensive network of private firms and cross-border joint ventures created under New Delhi’s signature “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (Self-Reliant India) industrial initiatives. Prominent among these is PLR Systems Private Limited, a joint venture combining India’s Adani Defence & Aerospace with Israel Weapon Industries, which produces specialized machine gun parts and small arms mechanisms. Other private entities highlighted in the supply chain include Premier Explosives Limited, Kalyani Strategic Systems, Indo-MIM Private Limited, and Ashoka Manufacturing.
Over the past two decades, particularly following the 1999 Kargil War when India relied heavily on Israeli surveillance technology and precision munitions, the bilateral defence dynamic was defined by a traditional buyer-seller model. However, recent industrial policy deliberately incentivised Israeli firms to establish domestic manufacturing facilities inside India. This strategy successfully shifted the dynamic from importing finished hardware to co-production, effectively embedding Indian labour and facilities into the global supply chains of Israeli arms manufacturers.
International Legal Obligations and Complicity Risks
Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, emphasised that the continuation of these transfers despite widespread public documentation of civilian casualties creates grave legal liabilities. Article 16 of the International Law Commission’s Articles on State Responsibility, which triggers legal liability when specific conditions are met, states that a state that knowingly assists or aids another state in committing internationally wrongful acts risks legal complicity in those violations.
The report asserts that by continuing to permit, license, and execute arms shipments after the International Court of Justice issued binding provisional measures regarding the risk of genocide in Gaza, India stands in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Article III of the convention explicitly penalizes complicity in genocide, while Article I mandates that all signatory states take active measures to prevent genocide from occurring. Furthermore, as a state party to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, India possesses a binding legal obligation to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and refrain from transferring weapons when there is a clear risk they will be used to commit grave breaches.
Amnesty also notes that corporate directors and executives involved in these manufacturing transfers face potential civil liability and, under specific jurisdictions, criminal prosecution if arms transferred with their knowledge contribute to international crimes. The report severely criticizes India’s regulatory framework, pointing out that national export controls lack mandatory human rights due diligence checks, possess minimal public transparency, and fall short of the standards established by the international Arms Trade Treaty, to which India is not a signatory state.
Government Responses and Systemic Deficiencies
Following the release of the investigation, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs addressed the claims through its official spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal. The ministry maintained that India operates a robust legal and regulatory framework regarding strategic trade controls, asserting that all exports of dual-use technologies and items are conducted in full accordance with national legislation and consistent with international obligations.
However, Amnesty International argues that relying on standard strategic trade controls is insufficient when transfers involve hardware directly feeding an active conflict zone where systematic violations of international law have been widely documented. The human rights organisation called for an immediate, comprehensive global arms embargo on Israel, urging the Indian government to halt all existing export authorisations, suspend joint venture defence transfers, and implement rigorous human rights safeguards across its defence manufacturing sector.
By exposing the precise mechanics of this supply chain, the Amnesty report redefines the global debate over the conflict. It demonstrates that modern military capacity relies on a web of international suppliers, placing countries like India at the center of critical questions regarding state responsibility, corporate accountability, and the global trade in weapons.
[Image Credits: The Quint]
