New Delhi. India and Russia once again reiterated that mutual relations between the two countries stand on a strong foundation of credibility, shared values and mutual respect. This was said in an important meeting of the Defense Ministers of both the countries on Thursday. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov met at the Manekshaw Center in New Delhi on Thursday. Both of them jointly chaired the meeting of the 22nd India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation. According to the Defense Ministry, this meeting has been organized ahead of the 23rd annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the meeting, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh underlined the ‘Self-reliant India’ vision of the Government of India. He expressed his commitment to increase the country’s indigenous defense industry capacity in line with this vision.
Rajnath Singh stressed on encouraging defense production and defense exports for the Indian Armed Forces. For this, he stressed on new opportunities to increase cooperation in cutting-edge and specialized technologies between the two countries. The Defense Ministry says that Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov stressed the need to further deepen India-Russia relations. He said that the decades-long friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries is a symbol of mutual trust.
He also assured that the Russian defense industry is ready to provide full support to India in becoming self-reliant in the field of defense production. Along with this, he also invited Rajnath Singh to co-chair the 23rd session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation to be held in Russia in the year 2026.
Let us tell you that this is the most important bilateral framework of defense cooperation between India and Russia. It is jointly chaired by the Defense Minister of India and the Defense Minister of Russia. The meeting of this commission is held every year by rotation in both the countries. At the conclusion of the meeting, the two Ministers signed the Protocol of the 22nd India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission-Military and Military Technical Cooperation Session. It outlines areas of current and future cooperation.
Before the meeting, Rajnath Singh and the Russian Defense Minister paid tribute to the martyrs at the National War Memorial, New Delhi. The Russian minister also reviewed the ceremonial guard of honor of the three services. The Defense Ministry believes that this meeting further strengthens India-Russia defense cooperation and paves the way for future strategic, technological and industrial partnership.
India and Russia have strong defense relations. Both the countries cooperate in areas ranging from submarines, combat naval ships to fighter jets. Recently, the armies of both the countries have also conducted a major joint exercise against terrorism. Apart from this, an important agreement has also been signed between the companies of the two countries regarding civil aircraft.
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