Swedish arms are still being exported to Myanmar’s military regime via Indian arms sales. This is according to Justice for Myanmar (JFM).
An investigation by JFM discovered that the Indian firm Sandeep Metalcraft Private Ltd is supplying Myanmar’s military with FFV-447 projectile fuses. These are designed to use with Swedish 84 mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles.
JFM found that one shipment of FFV-447 was sent to Myanmar in 2019. A second shipment was likely delivered after the Myanmar military’s attempted coup. Sandeep Metalcraft still advertises Carl Gustaf fuses on its website.
As an EU member state, it is prohibited for Sweden to transfer arms and technologies to the Myanmar military.
“Sweden must act on recent Indian arms sales to the Myanmar military. They have to investigate how components of Swedish arms are once again being exported from India to Myanmar,” says JFM.
On 29 March 2023, Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tobias Billström confirmed that Swedish Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles have been manufactured in India since the 1970s. He also confirmed, that Sweden has transferred rifles to India and that some of these have been diverted from India to Myanmar.
In 2012, this diversion was subject to an official investigation by the ISP. According to Billström, the ISP concluded that India was respecting its commitments to not re-export weapons manufactured under Swedish license.
Still, the latest discovery by JFM shows that Sandeep Metalcraft has supplied the Myanmar military with Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles, after the 2012 investigation was concluded. This is despite the Myanmar military’s genocide against the Rohingya and ongoing international crimes.
Source: mizzima.com
