Defence ministers of India, Russia hold crucial talks ahead of summit

New Delhi: On the eve of the annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin, the Defence Ministers of India and Russia met here on Thursday and decided to enhance collaboration on “niche technologies” without disclosing anything on specific defence projects that the two countries have been pursuing.

At the 22nd meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation, both sides reiterated that India-Russia relationship was based on a deep sense of trust, common principles and mutual respect.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh underlined the need to collaborate on nice technologies and boost the capacity of Indian industry for local production and export of military items.

His Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov said the Russian Defence Industry was ready to support India towards becoming self-reliant in defence production, the Defence Ministry said.

While the Defence Ministry is silent on specific projects the two sides discussed, an ANI report said some of the proposals to come up for discussions in the Modi-Putin talk would include upgrading Su-30MKI combat jets, procuring more S-400 and similar air defence systems and equipping the fighter jets with R-37 air-to-air missiles that have a range of over 200 km.

In 2018 New Delhi signed a $ 5.43 billion contract with Moscow to procure five S-400 squadrons, of which three squadrons have been delivered so far.

The air-defence system that can engage multiple targets simultaneously played a critical role during the four-day conflict with Pakistan in May. India now wants to buy more such systems and missiles to replenish the stocks that were exhausted during the conflict.

The Indian side also stressed on the timely delivery of the remaining two squadrons of S-400 by its manufacturer Almaz Antey. As per the revised timeline, they are to come in 2026-27.

Singh and Belusov signed a protocol highlighting the ongoing and prospective areas of cooperation.

Russia remains one of India’s most trusted military partners supplying New Delhi with tanks, guns, warships, fighter jets, helicopters and submarines over the years.

With New Delhi cosying up to Washington in recent years, Russia’s share in Indian arms import has dropped to around 36% between 2020-2024, as against 55% between 2015-19, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research that tracks arms sales around the world.

Some of the other major recent deals with Russia are production of AK-203 assault rifles with Russian technology; stealth frigates INS Tamal and Tushil manufactured at a Russian ship yard and leasing of a Akula class nuclear submarine (Chakra-III) that is likely to be inducted by the Indian Navy by around 2028.