Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi greet each other at the Palam Air Base in New Delhi (AP photo)
NEW DELHI: India and Russia on Thursday agreed to further enhance their expansive defence partnership, including through collaboration in niche military technologies and stronger defence-industrial cooperation, which is likely to see Moscow continuing as New Delhi’s leading arms supplier for the foreseeable future, reports Rajat Pandit.Ahead of the Modi-Putin summit, defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov stressed ties were based on “a deep sense of trust, common principles and mutual respect” while inking a protocol on “ongoing and prospective areas” of defence cooperation.The 22nd inter-governmental commission on military and military-technical cooperation, co-chaired by the ministers, underlined India’s intent to retain its strategic autonomy despite mounting pressure from the US and EU to distance itself from Russia.Tough to give India S-500 systems as of now, says officialSources said discussions ranged from India acquiring additional S-400 Triumf air defence systems and their surface-to-air missiles in large numbers to upgrading IAF’s Sukhoi-30MKI fighter fleet and arming them with long-range R-37 and RVV-BD air-to-air missiles.The joint production of advanced variants of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles as well as procurement of short-range Pantsir and man-portable Verba air defence systems also figured in the talks. “It will be difficult for Russia to supply advanced S-500 air defence systems as of now even if India wants them. Its fifth-generation Sukhoi-57 fighters are also on offer, but India is yet to take a decision,” an official said.Taking note during the meeting of the special and privileged strategic partnership with Russia, Rajnath Singh said India is determined to expand the capacity of its indigenous defence industry for both local production and exports under the aegis of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ policy.Belousov, in turn, said Russian defence industry was ready to support India towards becoming self-reliant in defence production, highlighting that both the countries were “united by many years of friendship and strategic cooperation”.India also wants Russia to expedite deliveries of critical military hardware that have been hugely delayed due to the Ukraine war. These include the two remaining squadrons of the five S-400 squadrons contracted for $5.43 billion in 2018 as well as the advanced Akula-class nuclear attack submarine, which was supposed to arrive this year on a 10-year lease under the $3 billion deal signed in March 2019. “Russia says the two S-400 squadrons will be delivered next year, while the submarine will come in 2028,” a source said.India plans to acquire another five S-400 squadrons, while defence ministry has also cleared the Rs 10,000 crore procurement of 280 of its missiles with interception ranges of 120km, 200km, 250km and 380km to replenish stocks used during the May 7-10 cross-border hostilities with Pakistan as well as build reserves, as was earlier reported by TOI.IAF also wants R-37 air-to-air missiles, with a range of over 200km, and its advanced version called RVV-BD to arm its upgraded Sukhoi-30MKI fighters. This will counter Pakistan’s use of Chinese-origin jets like J-10s armed with PL-15 long-range missiles that initially caught it off-guard during Operation Sindoor.Advanced lighter versions of BrahMos missiles, whose strike range has already been enhanced to 450km from the initial 290km and will eventually go up to 800km, are also on the cards.While the heavyweight Sukhoi fighters armed with BrahMos missiles had carried out long-range precision strikes against Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, the plan now is to go for smaller air-launched BrahMos-NG missiles that can be carried by lightweight jets as well.The total value of the deals inked with Indo-Russian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace has crossed Rs 58,000 crore over the years, with the missiles with a 2.8-Mach speed becoming the prime conventional precision strike weapons for IAF, Navy and Army.
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