India, Russia extend life of military technical cooperation panel by another ten years

New Delhi: India and Russia on Monday reaffirmed long-standing strategic ties by agreeing to extend the tenure of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) by another ten years on the expiry of its present term in 2010.

Addressing a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdyukov, after initialling the protocol on IRIGC-MTC, Indian defence minister AK Antony, said an apex committee will also be formed to sort out problems on a fast-track basis. These issues relate to ongoing and proposed projects for acquisition, joint development and production of weapons systems, joint defence R&D as well as interaction between the defence forces of both countries, including joint exercises.

Long-standing issues relate to the demand for an additional $1.2 billion for the refit of INS Vikramaditya (ex-Admiral Gorshkov) aircraft carrier that India purchased for $1.5 billion, as well as delays in the indigenous production of the T-90 main battle tank resulting from Moscow's refusal to transfer crucial technology.

Antony stated that the apex committee, jointly headed by defence secretaries of both countries, would meet at least once every six months. Its first meeting will be held in Moscow before the visit of the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to India in December 2008.