Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin
Credit: PTI photo
New Delhi: Russia has agreed to establish Joint Venture companies in India for local production of “spare and components” and “defence equipment under technology transfer” for Indian armed forces as well as exporting them to “mutually friendly third countries.”
This is one of the key outcomes of the summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin, even though the officials didn’t disclose the military items that the two sides are exploring for manufacturing in India.
“Both Sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology and setting up of joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries,” says the joint statement issued after the Modi-Putin meeting.
Quoting Sergei Chemezov, CEO of the Russian state corporation (Rostec), news agency TASS reported that Moscow proposed localised production of the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet Su-57 in India.
Briefing the reporters Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “Our military technical cooperation remains robust. Russia also continues to support Make-in-India initiatives, including through joint production and technology transfer.”
A flagship example of past India-Russia partnership in military manufacturing is production of supersonic cruise missile Brahmos for Indian armed forces. The weapon – used in Operation Sindoor – has been exported to the Philippines and more such talks are on with other nations.
Other prominent Russian collaborations in arms manufacturing are production of AK-203 assault rifles and combat jets like Su-30 MKI and MiG-21 by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bengaluru.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with regular military contacts, including the meeting of Defence Ministers in Qingdao in June 2025 on the sidelines of the SCO Member-States’ Defence Ministers’ Meeting.
New Delhi and Moscow appreciated the regular conduct of Indra series of joint military exercises of the armed forces and reaffirmed their commitment to maintain the momentum and expand military delegation exchanges.
The Indra series of drills began in 2003. This year, it was first held between March 28 and April 2 off Chennai coast between the two navies followed by an exercise involving the land forces in October in Rajasthan.
A day before the summit, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov chaired a meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation, where specific projects were discussed. But neither side identified the projects that were under discussion.