India and Russia on Friday signed a 'landmark document in our relations covering all areas of our defence ties', Defence Minister George Fernandes said on Friday.
The document, signed after the two-day meeting of Indo-Russian Inter-governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation, provides for joint development of a fifth-generation fighter, he said after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov in Moscow.
It also envisages setting up several hi-tech joint ventures similar to the 'BrahMos' cruise missile, development and production of futuristic weapons and their platforms, the defence minister said.
He, however, did not say whether the two sides have made a breakthrough with regard to the sale of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to India.
The Russian defence minister said, "We have extensive and serious plans for the closest interaction between our two defence establishments and the armed forces based on new quality and trust."
Ivanov dismissed concerns that military cooperation between the two countries would destabilise the balance of forces in Asia.
"India is the largest democracy of the world and we have been linked by decades of close friendship. Our strategic partnership is not an empty notion," he said.
He said Russia would continue to provide India with the latest weapons, especially when both the countries are fighting a common and protracted war against international terrorism.
Fernandes said the two nations are developing ties in all spheres, including substantial Indian commercial investments in the Sakhalin oil fields in Russia. "It is India's biggest overseas investment."
The two sides also discussed international issues.
'Naturally, global terrorism had to find a major place' in the talks, Fernandes said, adding that Russia and India have voiced a 'joint commitment to fight it and to defeat it'.
"We had a very detailed discussion on the situation in Afghanistan and neighbouring territories," Ivanov said, adding he had given Fernandes an account of the situation in Chechnya and received a briefing on Kashmir.
The Russian minister called for stronger international control to prevent the Al-Qaeda terrorist network from obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
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