India, Russia fill up dents in defence ties

In a boost to the sagging defence relationship between India and Russia, the two nations on Friday signed a contract for supply of 80 MI-17V-5 medium lift helicopters for the Indian Air Force.

Valued at $1 billion, the agreement between the two sides comes at a time when New Delhi and Moscow are squabbling over several defence related deals signed earlier such as the escalating costs of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier refit and the technology transfer for the T-90 tanks.

However, they agreed to move ahead and resolve all contentious issues in military cooperation, including the Russian demand for additional $2 billion dollars for the repair and refit of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier and the sharing of technical know-how for the T-90s.

The MI-17 deal had been clinched just before Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev's State visit to New Delhi during a meeting of the High Level Monitoring Committee headed by Defence Secretary Vijay Singh and Russian Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation Director Mikhail Dmitriev.

The Cabinet Committee on Security too had given its go-ahead to acquisition of the helicopters at its meeting on Wednesday.

The helicopter contract was signed by Defence Ministry's Director General (Acquisitions) Sashi Kant Sharma and Rosoboronexport Director General A P Isaykin after the officials talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Medvedev.

The 12-tonne capacity MI-17 is the primary lifeline for Indian armed forces serving in high altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir, including the inhabitable Siachen Glacier and the icy heights of Ladakh along the country's borders with Pakistan and China.

The IAF already operates 200 of the MI-17 helicopters and the current contract was for its upgraded version in the form of better avionics.

The helicopter, with a maximum speed of 250 kmph and a maximum rage of about 950 km, can carry 32 fully armed troops or about 9.5 tonne load, both cargo inside its belly and arms on the exterior, enabling its take off up to a maximum weight of 13 tonnes.

'Defence is a major element of relationship and it has been long-standing (between New Delhi and Moscow). The intention is to move from a buyer-seller relationship to joint design and development,' Medvedev said at a joint press conference with the Manmohan Singh.

Medvedev said the two countries had decided to identify ways to resolve outstanding issues and coordinate in the area of defence cooperation.

'There are outstanding issues. But they are of a workable nature. We have discussed in detail all technical issues about Admiral Gorshkov, T-90 tanks and the leasing of the nuclear submarine,' he said.
 
The Russian President that technical cooperation in the area of defence was part and parcel of the relationship and added that the two countries were moving forward on their plans for joint design and development of a fifth generation fighter aircraft and a multi-role transport aircraft in the future.