Camaraderie in full swing, India & Russia expand strategic ties during Rajnath's Moscow visit

Moscow/New Delhi, Dec 10: Reiterating India's commitment towards a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership with Russia, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday spotlighted new opportunities for enhancing the participation of Russian industries in the 'Make in India' projects while voicing New Delhi's determination to extend the capabilities of its domestic defence industry across domains and industrial collaboration.

Singh held talks with Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov in Moscow and also co-chaired the 21st session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MMTC).

The Defence Minister also called upon the Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

He emphasised that the India-Russia relationship is "very strong", and has lived up to the responsibilities of a special and privileged strategic partnership, adding that the time-tested ties have further strengthened with the recent exchanges, including two visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia during 2024.

"Had a very productive IRIGC-M&MTC meeting with my Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov in Moscow. Reviewing the full range of bilateral defence ties, we discussed ways to deepen cooperation between both countries. We are committed to further strengthen India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership," he posted on X after the meeting.

Belousov noted that Russia and India have a strong, time-honoured friendship, based on mutual respect, where the trusting relations of the leaders of the two states play a key role in strengthening bilateral ties.

"We are always pleased to see Indian colleagues in Russia," said the Russian Defence Minister.

"The results of the meetings of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of the Republic of India Narendra Modi in July in Moscow and in October at the BRICS summit in Kazan served to deepen the particularly privileged strategic partnership, to include in the defence sphere. We are committed to implementing all the agreements reached at the highest level," he added.

Belousov also congratulated Singh on the commissioning of INS Tushil and further stated that the operationalisation of the Military Technical Cooperation agreement for 2021-31 will give necessary impetus to the 'Make in India' initiative.

During their talks, the two sides discussed in detail topical issues of bilateral cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres.

The Russian Defence Minister noted the "good level" of Indian-Russian military cooperation in multilateral formats, including within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and ADMM-Plus format.

"I am confident that our meeting will help to strengthen Russian-Indian relations in the field of defence and security," said Belousov.

Earlier, the Indian delegation was welcomed at the Russian Defence Ministry in Central Moscow with Singh inspecting a Guard of Honour.

Defence Minister Singh also laid a wreath at 'The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier' in Moscow to honour the memory of the Soviet soldiers killed during the Second World War.