The Indian government has made it clear through an order that civilians are not permitted to buy or possess passive night vision goggles, telescopic sights for sniper rifles and optical sights with night vision capability.
"No claim from any quarter of whatsoever nature will be entertained on the plea of any such error/ omission," reads an order published by India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade.
However, several online companies including Amazon offer these devices to civilians with monthly installment payment options and delivered within two to four weeks. These online platforms do not mention the origin of the product but quite a few are from the US and the UK. For example, ATN 2nd Generation Night Vision Goggles NVG7 — 45-54 lp mm resolution are available for $ 3,348 while Armasight Discovery 5x QS-HD night vision binocular 5x Gen 2 is available for $ 4,252 with an easy installment option.
Last year, terrorists had used PVS 14 American monocular devices during an attack on Gurudaspur police station that killed seven. These night vision devices are mainly used by US and NATO forces.
