The Washington Post:
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have sought to correct a decade-long decline in their defense ties, reestablishing Moscow as New Delhi’s closest military partner.
Putin and Modi on Oct. 15 inked four big ticket defense deals worth over $10 billion when they met in Goa earlier this month.
Under the deals — the commercial details of which were discussed on Wednesday in a closed door meeting between their defense ministers, according to India’s defense ministry — Moscow will supply India with S-400 Triumf air defense missiles that Russia has previously exported only to China.
It will also deliver four Admiral Grigorovich-class warships and build military helicopters through a joint venture in India.
Minister of Defence Manohar Parrikar met with Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in New Delhi, co-chairing an annual meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation.
The two discussed joint projects such as the fifth generation fighter aircraft and the upgrading of the Sukhoi combat plane in the Indian Air Force’s inventory. They also dealt with the establishment of agreements and joint ventures signed on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Goa, including the frigates and military helicopters.
