Briefing: India to consolidate defence ties with Russia

The pending 10-year extension to a formal military technical co-operation agreement between India and Russia is expected to deepen defence ties between the two countries, although Jane's notes that it is unlikely to dampen India's bid to diversify the suppliers of its defence assets.

Indian Defence Minister A K Antony travelled to Moscow on 13 October to finalise the details of the India-Russia Long-Term Inter-Governmental Agreement for Military Technical Co-operation. The accord is scheduled to be ratified by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in December.

The original co-operation agreement was signed in December 1988 and expires in 2010. It has seen the trade of a multitude of defence equipment to India and also the emergence of that country as a development partner as opposed to purely a buyer. Two programmes that evidence this approach are the projects to form Indian-Russian joint ventures to develop and produce the Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) and the Multi-Role Transport Aircraft (MTA).

Deba R Mohanty, a senior fellow in security studies at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Jane's on 13 October that the original co-operation agreement has laid a "very solid foundation" for India to develop further as a development partner.

He added: "The mutual benefits are clear: India can acquire modern platforms and technologies while Russia gains access to India's growing defence market."