India’s President Droupadi Murmu, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: Konstantin Zavrazhin/AFP/Getty Images
Russia and India said they plan to recalibrate their military and military-technical ties, according to a joint statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi released Friday after talks in New Delhi.
Among other measures, Putin and Modi agreed to launch joint production in India of spare parts, components and other products to service Russian weapons and military equipment, to meet the needs of the Indian armed forces and for export to “friendly” third countries. To make that possible, Russia will transfer technologies to India, where joint ventures will be created.
The partnership will focus on joint research and development and the production of advanced defense platforms “in response to India’s aspiration for self-reliance,” according to the statement published on the Kremlin’s website.
The two sides also expressed interest in deepening cooperation on technologies for exploration, processing and refining of critical minerals and rare earth elements.
The presidents stressed that “Russia-India ties remain resilient to external pressure.”
After the talks, Putin and Modi made statements to the press. The Russian president said “Russia is ready to continue ensuring uninterrupted fuel supplies” to India. Earlier, Bloomberg reported that, amid new US sanctions on Russian oil companies, India has reduced purchases of Russian crude.
