 |
| S-400 Tiumf (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By: Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI — The defense agreement made between India and Russia on Saturday is being viewed by some analysts as a resurrection of a strategic partnership between the two countries following a four-year gap in defense ties.
However, this spurt in big-ticket defense programs, worth a total of $10 billion, with Russia after 2012 is not being taken as a course correction by India away from United States, with whom the ruling Modi government warmed up after coming to power in mid-2014.
"There is no correction away from USA. India has a strong and long-standing defense partnership with Russia, which gets reinforced periodically," said Vivek Rae, the Indian Ministry of Defence's (MoD) former director general of acquisition. "Russia has been a reliable friend and partner for several decades. This is a strategic partnership which has stood the test of time."
The agreement is for the purchase of $5 billion worth of S-400 Tiumf air defense systems, four stealth frigates for $4 billion and the formation of a joint venture to manufacture Kampov-226T light
utility helicopters in India worth more than $1 billion.
An MoD official said most of the negotiations for the S-400 systems are complete and should be among the first contracts to be inked in the near future. The final contracts for the defense programs are likely to be finalized in the next six months, the MoD official added.
The last major defense deal between India and Russia was signed in 2012, which included a $1.6 billion deal for India to purchase 42 Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets and a $1.3 billion contract for the delivery of 71 Mi-17 V5 helicopters.
Read the full story at DefenseNews