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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know India Signs Deal With US To Buy Javelin Anti-Tank Missile Systems T he Indian Army has signed an agreement with the United States to purchase Javelin anti-tank missile systems, the U.S. Embassy in India said on Friday, without disclosing the value of the deal. • The medium-range guided missile system, jointly produced by Lockheed Martin and RTX, is designed for use against a range of targets, including ar- mored vehicles, the embassy said. • The missile system is already in service with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, as well as several international customers, the embassy added. • The agreement creates new opportu- nities for the defense industries of both countries to work together, U.S. Ambas- sador Sergio Gor said. • “We see tremendous potential for future cooperation that strengthens the defense industrial bases of both coun- tries,” he said. • New Delhi was not immediately avail- able for comment on the agreement. • India is the world’s fifth-largest mili- tary spender and the second-largest arms importer after Ukraine, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. • India and the U.S. signed a 10-year defense framework agreement in October. • Although ties between the countries have deteriorated in recent months, with Washington imposing high tariffs on Indian goods, punishing New Delhi for purchasing Russian oil, and engaging closely with India’s arch-rival Pakistan, the defense relationship has remained unaf- fected. - Reuters PHOTO: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST/FILE PHOTO PHOTO:REUTERS/ELOISA LOPEZ/FILE PHOTO India Warns Of ‘Weaponized’ Supply Chains, Demands Action To Avert Global South Starvation At UNSC -UNITED NATIONS W arning that the “weaponisation” and disrup- tion of global supply lines are plunging the Global South into severe food emergencies, India has issued a powerful call to action at the UN Security Council, demanding that early-warning mechanisms look beyond ground-level chaos to explic- itly shield critical supply chains. India strongly advocated for a major shift toward decentralized agricultural systems, increased reliance on climate-adaptive crops like millets, and strict protec- tions for commercial sea lanes to stop localized regional conflicts from driving worldwide starvation. During an open debate on conflict-induced food insecurity convened by Denmark, India insisted that UN response frameworks, particularly under Security Council Resolution 2417, must evolve. India argued that identifying worsening humanitarian conditions on the ground is no longer enough to avert widespread disaster. Instead, India proposed that the United Nations must proactively track and report on vulnerabilities across global trade sectors. “Early warning should… include timely assessments of disruptions to critical supply chains, including food, fertiliser, fuel and humanitarian logistics,” said India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, P. Harish, em- phasizing that these evaluations must be conducted by technical agencies and remain “objective, evidence-based and free from politicisation.” Harish detailed how failures in energy markets, mari- time logistics, and the fertilizer trade disproportionately penalize import-dependent, developing countries. Echo- ing the Secretary-General’s call to ensure unhindered commercial and humanitarian transit, India targeted the vulnerability of specific global trade paths. Just a day before India’s statement, UN Secretary- General António Guterres, had presented his grim as- sessment, speaking against the compounding effects of ongoing geopolitical violence on the global food supply. Guterres urged the Security Council to act immediately, cautioning that “the best protection against food insecu- rity is peace” and calling for absolute safeguards across global borders and seas to protect vulnerable agricultural networks. Presenting India’s statement, Harish urged the inter- national community to collectively step up and safeguard critical lanes. “Disruptions to commercial shipping during conflicts can have cascading effects far beyond the immediate region, disproportionately affecting food-importing developing countries and humanitarian operations,” he said. A core point of India’s recommendations was devel- oping a shift in the global community’s primary focus towards supporting small and marginal producers across the Global South, instead of centralized production models, which leave global markets deeply vulnerable to “geopolitical disruptions, economic coercion and weap- onisation.” Cautioning against over-reliance on centralized agricultural models, India also called for diversifying the global food away from over-reliance on a few dominant staple crops. “We must also encourage climate resilient crops such as millets rather than limit conceptions of food security to the biggest staple, grain crops such as rice, wheat and corn,” India argued, pointing to its own success during the International Year of Millets and its domestic PM-KISAN initiative as blueprints for robust, national self-reliance. While Guterres urged the Council to deploy every tool at its disposal to break the conflict-hunger cycle, India reminded member states that long-term resilience is ultimately a domestic obligation supported by targeted multilateral assistance. India concluded that the Security Council should focus heavily on its core mandate of facilitating peace and humanitarian access. Meanwhile, the long-term, struc- tural fight against global hunger must remain driven by national ownership and spearheaded by specialized bod- ies like the UN General Assembly, ECOSOC, and interna- tional food agencies. PHOTO:FILE PHOTO – @INDIAATUN,NYVIDEO GRAB By Archana Adalja India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni. Javeline anti-tank missiles are displayed on the assembly line at a Lockheed Martin weapons factory in Troy, Alabama, U.S. May 3, 2022. A Filipino soldier fires a Javelin anti-tank weapon system during a live exercise as part of the annual US-Philippines joint military exercises called “Balikatan” at Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija province, Philippines, April 13, 2023. US - India/ United Nations News India Times (August 29, 2026 - September 4, 2026) September 4, 2026 7