Indian public figures call for halt to Israel arms sales

A group of high profile Indian public figures, including Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy, has written to India's defence minister to demand a halt to arms exports to Israel, according to a report by Anadolu news agency.

The group, which included former Supreme Court and high court judges, economists and activists, wrote to Rajnath Singh demanding that India "immediately suspend its collaboration in the delivery of military material to Israel."

"Further, India must immediately make every effort to ensure that weapons already delivered to Israel are not used to contribute to acts of genocide or violations of international humanitarian law," it added.

The group also demanded that details of export licences remain in the public domain, pointing out that the details used to be available on a website and have subsequently been removed.