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Antony to undertake three-day visit of Russia | Defence Minister AK Antony will undertake a three-day
visit to Moscow from October 13 to attend the Ninth meeting of the India-Russia Inter Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC). The
IRIGC-MTC meets annually, alternately in India and Russia, at the level of the
Defence Ministers of the two countries to review and discuss matters relating
to the bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries. The meeting will
be held on October 14 and 15, and will be chaired by Antony from the Indian side
and by Defence Minister A E Serdyukov from the Russian side. The extension of
the existing India-Russia Long Term Inter-Governmental Agreement on the programme
for Military Technical Cooperation for a further 10 years, from 2011 to 2020,
will be the main focus of discussions during the meeting of the commission. India
and Russia had concluded an agreement in December 1988 which envisaged a programme
for defence cooperation between the two countries up to the year 2010. The extension
of this programme beyond 2010 has been under consideration and this matter had
also been discussed by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during his meeting
with President Putin in Moscow in 2007. Both sides have, since, been working towards
finalizing the programme for defence cooperation beyond 2011. The anticipated
discussions at the commission level would pave the way for conclusion of the Agreement
during Dr Singh's forthcoming visit to Russia in December 2009 for the Summit
meeting between him and President Medvedev. In addition to the consideration of
new areas for potential defence cooperation between the two countries, both sides
will also be focussing on ways to step up progress in important on-going projects
which are expected to reach significant stages of activity in the coming years.
The indigenous production of the Russian origin T-90 S tanks at the Heavy Vehicles
Factory, Avadi, under license from the Russian side will be one of the major on-going
projects, in which the Russian side is providing technical and product support
for the indigenous production of tanks. The modernisation of the SU 30 MK1 aircraft
is also expected to come up for discussion in the Commission's meeting. The aircraft,
contracted in 1996, are due for overhaul shortly and the Russia side have offered
an upgrade of the aircraft with incorporation of the latest technologies during
the major overhaul. The continuation of the India Russia Joint Venture BrahMos
is also likely to be discussed, in the context of on-going discussion for the
development of the next generation hypersonic Cruise Missiles - BrahMos-2 and
the on-going proposal to coordinate the BrahMos with the SU 30 MK1. Among the
major new projects which will be high in priorities of the Indian agenda for bilateral
defence cooperation between the two countries, will be projects for joint design
and development of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) and of the Multi-Role
Transport Aircraft (MTA). The co-development and co-production of the FGFA with
Sukhoi Design Bureau Russia has been progressing, with several rounds of discussion
already completed to finalize the technical requirements. During discussions in
the meeting of the Commission, Shri Antony would highlight New Delhi's interest
in ensuring that the development phase of the FGFA is completed by 2016, as originally
anticipated and that induction of the aircraft into the IAF can start by 2017.
Both sides will also review the progress on the MTA, on which the Inter-Governmental
Agreement had been signed during the visit of Dr Manmohan Singh's to Moscow in
November 2007. Both sides have been discussing the formation of the Joint Venture
company which would execute the project involving design, development and production
of the Medium Transport Aircraft in the 15-20 tonne class to meet the requirements
of the Russian and Indian Armed Forces. Both sides are likely to conclude the
Agreement to form the JVC shortly. The Defence Minister's delegation to the IRIGC-MTC
will include Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production) R
K Singh, DG (Acquisition) S K Sharma, senior officials of DRDO, Ministry and the
Armed Forces. A Protocol incorporating the various aspects of current and future
Indo-Russian bilateral defence cooperation will be signed at the conclusion of
the meeting. |
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