India, Russia Agree Arms Pact Likely Worth $5 bln
Friday, October 16, 2009 at 6:09 pm
NEW DELHI: India, Russia Agree Arms Pact Likely Worth $5 bln, including a 10-year deal in weapons, aircraft and maintenance contracts potentially worth at least $ 5 billion, defense officials in India said.
Defense Minister of India A.K. Antony and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov agreed the Moscow agreements.
“All offers of defense, all contracts will be under the 10 – year agreement,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said in New Delhi. Defense officials told Reuters that the deal had potential business worth at least $ 5 billion.
The 10-year agreement, which will be signed when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Russia this year, would include an agreement of $ 1 billion for 80 Russian Mi-17 helicopters and contracts to assemble Russian-made missile Brahmos in Sukhoi fighter jets.
They are also building a modern supersonic fighter aircraft invisible to radars U.S. as the F-22 Raptor Stealth fighter, PK Barbora, a senior official of the Indian Air Force, told Reuters.
The second covers the pact after sales service of products for defense equipment of Russian origin.
The growing ties between India and the United States, underscored by a civil nuclear deal has put Russia on a worry that New Delhi intends to reach other countries in modernizing its military inventory throughout the aging Russian-made weapons and combat aircraft.
New Delhi also complained of delays in the provision of defense equipment from Russia, including an aircraft carrier repaired, resulting in massive over-expenditure and affect military planning.
The 10-year agreement now could help bridge differences in relations between the two former Cold War allies, analysts said.
“We are overcoming the problems and get along,” Barbora said.
New Delhi plans to spend $ 30 million over the next five years to purchase modern weapons systems and strike aircraft.
“The agreement will certainly help Russia needs a market and India needs a strategic reinsurance to order the relations were sour,” retired Maj. Gen. Ashok Mehta.
Experts say that India also wants to use the renewed interest in Russia as a counterweight to China, while a strong presence in South Asia could help Moscow keep an eye on Beijing.
India fears China is trying to surround it, as they struggle for resources and global influence. The two sides have clashed in various multilateral forums this year of his long-festering border dispute that led to a brief but bloody war in 1962.
“China is a greater anxiety for Russia in the long term and politically it is desirable for India to strengthen ties with Russia,” said Uday Bhaskar, a strategic analyst.
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