THE DEFENCE RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND RUSSIA
India and Russia discussed a host of bilateral issues, including cooperation in defence during a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin that ended on the margins of the 2018 BRICS Summit. The Russian leader is expected to visit India later in 2018 for the annual bilateral summit.
Russia has identified about 19 companies in India to manufacture defence products and provide spares and components of Russian platforms currently being used by India’s defence forces, Defence Production secretary Ajay Kumar said.
India and Russia are in advanced talks to seal a $ 1.1-billion deal for new medium lift helicopters to be used by both the defence and home ministry, with a likelihood of it being inked at an upcoming bilateral summit that will see Russian President Vladimir Putin travelling to the capital in October. The deal for 48 additional Mi-17 V5 choppers - which currently are the backbone of the air force’s heliborne transport fleet – has been in discussions since 2015, with both the ministries raising a demand for helicopters to be used for a range of missions.
Dr. Kumar said India was in the process of finalising the security agreement with the United States that would enable classified information to be shared between the industries of India and the U.S. “so that greater amount of industry-to-industry linkage can take place”. Financial sanctions by the US have hit India’s arms trade with Russia hard, with payments for weapons and equipment worth over $2 billion getting stuck, including those for critical projects such as the repair of leased nuclear attack submarine INS Chakra. It has become evident that a rupee-rouble transfer-–pegged on the exchange rate of an international currency—is the solution. As of now, India signs defence contracts with Russia for which payments are made in US dollars.
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