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Russia, India Ready to Sign Package of Military Contracts
Russia and India are ready to sign a package of contracts on arms sales and military-technical cooperation, and the first batch will be signed on June 6, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov announced Monday.
The two countries are entering a new stage of military cooperation by jointly designing and producing military hardware, especially aircraft, ships and submarines, said Klebanov, who co- chaired a session of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military-technical cooperation with his visiting Indian counterpart Jaswant Singh.
According to Klebanov, who is in charge of the military- industrial complex, Russia and India will jointly design a general- purpose military-transport plane, and the Ilyushin firm will be a Russian participant in the project.
"We are now completing the documents needed for starting its production," Klebanov said, noting the plane "is not going to be another AN-70, but an absolutely different plane."
Klebanov said Russia and India are also holding talks on the creation of warplanes of the fifth generation.
A contract on supplying Russia's Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier to India is also to be signed in September to October this year, followed by the sale of 60 MiG 29K deck combat planes and the construction of coastal infrastructure, Klebanov said.
Singh said that Russia and India have signed contracts worth of 10 billion U.S. dollars in the sphere of military-technical cooperation.
The recently signed large contracts on supplying India with Su- 30MKI jets and T-90 tanks are very important for India, said the minister, urging thorough implementation of those contracts.
Singh, who is also India's foreign minister, discussed bilateral relations with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on the same day in the context of preparations for a visit by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee scheduled for November. They also exchanged views on strategic stability and the Southern Asian situation.
The ministers emphasized "the importance of close cooperation between the two countries in the struggle against such global challenges such as international terrorism and religious extremism, " said a Foreign Ministry release.
Singh arrived here Sunday evening for a three-day official visit amid the stepping up cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi in military spheres.
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