NEW DELHI – India and Russia have decided to go for joint defence venturesworth billions of dollars.
As per media report, Defence ministers of India and Russia held intensivetalks Thursday on deepening defence ties and joint manufacturing projects,including the Kamov-226 helicopters, naval frigates and projects related toland systems, the Defence Ministry said.
In a meeting of the 18th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission onMilitary Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) held here, the two sides alsoagreed to take forward inter-governmental arrangements for facilitatingjoint manufacturing of spares for Russian origin equipment in India underthe ‘Make in India’ initiative, PTI has reported.
The meeting was co-chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and herRussian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu.
In the framework of the bilateral Special and Privileged StrategicPartnership, the IRIGC-MTC meeting discussed a wide range of issuesrelating to defence equipment, industry and technological engagementbetween India and Russia as well as after-sales support, upgradation ofmilitary equipment of Russian origin, it said.
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Shoigu’s visit to India assumes significance as a deal was signed betweenIndia and Russia to buy Russian S-400 air defence missile system. The twocountries have also signed a deal to build two frigates in Goa for theIndian Navy.
Russia’s state-owned arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, has also emerged asthe lowest bidder for India’s USD 3 billion tenders to source short-rangeair defence missile systems.
India had gone ahead with the S-400 deal with Russia notwithstanding USsanctions on military transactions under the Countering America’sAdversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
