India, Russia to scale up bilat ties, defence manufacturing

Russia on Tuesday promised expansion of joint production of weapons systems in India as the two countries held extensive talks covering key areas of bilateral cooperation as well as pressing issues like the Afghan peace process and each other’s outlook for the Indo-Pacific region.

In their talks, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov also discussed the proposed free trade pact between India and the Eurasian Economic Union.

People familiar with the discussions said the Indian side apprised the Russian delegation of its views and apprehensions over China’s behaviour in the backdrop of the border row in eastern Ladakh.

At a press conference with Lavrov, Jaishankar, terming the talks “very warm”, “comprehensive” and “very productive”, said much of the discussions covered the preparations for President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India for the annual India-Russia summit later this year.

To a question, Lavrov dismissed the possibility of any future military alliance between Russia and China and asserted the cooperation between the two countries was not directed against anyone.

Referring to bilateral defence ties, Lavrov said Russia was ready for transfer of cutting edge technologies and “additional manufacturing” of weapons systems in India. Russia is already part of several joint production of military hardware projects in India.

“I am sure deepening of military cooperation serves national interests of both the countries. At the same time, we respect the right of Indian friends to diversify ties in this area,” he said and described the outcome of the talks as “satisfactory”.

Without elaborating, Jaishankar said, “Our defence sector requirements in the past year were expeditiously addressed.” Asked whether the issue of the US putting pressure on India to not procure Russian weapons systems figured in the talks, he said it did not.

The Russian Foreign Minister arrived here on Monday evening on a nearly 19-hour visit amid apparent unease in Moscow over the proactive approach of the Quad member nations, including India, in dealing with geo-political developments in the Indo-Pacific region. Lavrov is travelling to Islamabad from India.

Jaishankar said both nations understand the importance of the India-Russia relationship to global peace, security and stability and that the review of bilateral ties was “really encouraging”.


TV BRICS reports with reference to Trinity Mirror.