Russia, India to maintain defense cooperation

7 November 2019 17:41 (UTC+04:00)

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India is set to develop its defense cooperation with Russia despite US pressure, the Russian government quoted Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh as saying at a meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov on Wednesday, Trend reports citing TASS.

"Rajnath Singh confirmed that India is set to further develop military technical cooperation with Russia, to strengthen ties between the defense industries of the two states. He stressed that India had no plans to swerve from this path despite the pressure on behalf of the US," the Russian government said in a statement, posted on its website.

The Russian deputy prime minister, in turn, said that "despite external pressure, Russia and India are successfully implementing joint projects in military technical cooperation", such as deliveries of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems and other projects.

"Besides, work is underway to negotiate a program of Russian-Indian military technical cooperation until 2030," Borisov said.

"In 2018, trade turnover between the two nations stood at almost $11 billion, up more than 17% compared to 2017 figures," the statement quoted Borisov as saying.

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