Antony starts defence visit to Moscow
03 Oct 2011
New Delhi: Indian defence minister AK Antony will start a three- day visit to Moscow from Monday where he will take stock of military cooperation with Russia and review ongoing projects. Antony will also witness the test-flight of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) which is being developed under an Indo-Russian joint venture.
"The defence minister will co-chair the 11th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) with his Russian counterpart AE Serdyukov," a defence ministry spokesperson said here.
The meeting comes as a run-up to prime minister Manmohan Singh's summit-level talks with Russia, likely to be held in December.
Besides regional and global security issues, the two sides will review progress of important ongoing projects such as the refit of Admiral Gorshkov and the delivery of frigates for the Indian Navy as well as the Multi-Role Transport Aircraft.
The two sides will also deliberate upon aspects relating to licensed manufacture and maintenance of T-90 tanks and Su-30 MKI aircraft in India, the MoD spokesperson said.
The two sides are also expected to discuss delivery of K-152 Nerpa nuclear submarine which is being leased to India by Russia, non-adherence to delivery schedule, mid-contract cost escalation, lack of spare support and issues over transfer of technology of weapon systems procured from Russia by India.
