India plans to sign several big-ticket defence deals with its traditional and strategic partner Russia during the annual summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 15-16, coinciding with the BRICS summit, in Goa. This is the third annual bilateral summit between Putin and Modi.
The defence deals, worth billions of dollars, have long been discussed between the two countries. Officials are expediting the exchanges to ensure some agreements are ready for signing at the Goa bilateral summit.
Both countries had begun negotiations on a number of defence cooperation projects during the 16th meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Indo-Russian Military-Technical Cooperation on September 7-8, in New Delhi. Reports indicate that substantive progress has been made on these projects, bringing the deals and pending projects “well on track.”
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According to sources, some of the most important stalled defence deals, may get the “green signal’ during the Putin-Modi summit. These include purchase of five S-400 ‘Triumph’ long-range air defence missile systems, worth $6 billion, an IL-78 multi-role tanker transport by India, the joint upgrading of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighters and Kamov-28 helicopters. The projects most likely to be finalized during the summit also include the long-awaited joint development of the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) worth over $20 billion, and the joint production of Kamov Ka- 26 light helicopters.
India is reported to be still in talks with the Russian side on the purchase of S-400 Triumph air defence systems. It may be recalled that under the chairmanship of Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the highest body that takes decisions on weapons purchasing, had cleared the purchase of S-400 air defence systems from Russia in December 2015. However, Russia is still awaiting the “final go-ahead” from India on the supply of the newest missile systems.
Negotiations between New Delhi and Moscow on the deliveries of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems and on some other aspects of military-technical cooperation between the two countries are in progress, Pankaj Saran, India’s Ambassador to Russia, said recently.
“There are many platforms for discussions and S-400 is one of them,” Saran said.
If the deal on S-400s is signed, it will become the biggest defence deal between the two countries since 2001, when India reached agreement with Russia to buy 140 Su-30MKI fighter jets. India might also become the second country to possess S-400s.
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Russia signed an agreement with China in April 2015, for the delivery of the S-400s. Russia’s delivery of the cutting-edge missile systems to India, will strengthen its air defences along the borders with China and Pakistan.
Discussions on the joint development of FGFA resumed earlier this year, after they were suspended over differences on the percentage of work- share in the research and development content between India and Russia. The preliminary agreement on the joint production of FGFA was signed in 2010, and a final agreement would release about $6 billion for joint development.
Following a series of negotiations on technical details over the past few months, the two countries are now ready with a detailed work-share agreement, under which Russia will share new generation aircraft technologies as a part of a deal to produce more than 100 fighters in India.
During the two-day meeting of the JWG of the Military-Technical Cooperation in September, Russia submitted a “technical-commercial proposal” to supply India with four multi-purpose frigates equipped with sensors and weapons, including BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. Under the proposal, out of four frigates, two will be delivered from Russia, and the other two will be built in India. There are alread....
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