India has signed 4 agreements with Russia, will buy more than 6 lakh AK-203 rifles

India and Russia on Monday signed four agreements, including a contract for the purchase of over six lakh AK-203 assault rifles. The decision was taken during a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation in the national capital, chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu. In his inaugural address, Singh termed Russia as India’s long-standing, special and privileged strategic partner and said relations between the two countries are based on common interests in multilateralism, global peace and prosperity, mutual understanding and trust.

Singh appreciated Russia’s strong support for India and stressed that the close cooperation is not targeted against any other country. He expressed hope that this cooperation will bring peace, prosperity and stability to the region and defense cooperation is one of the most important pillars of the bilateral partnership. Singh said before Shoigu, the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation has been a well-established mechanism for the past two decades. It provides a platform to discuss and implement a mutually agreed agenda for defense cooperation. You have been actively involved in these discussions for many years. I would like to acknowledge with due respect your valuable personal contribution to strengthen our bilateral defense cooperation.

Singh further said that the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again reaffirms the depth and vital importance of the special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia in the evolving geopolitical situation. He described the first ever India-Russia Two-Plus-Two Ministerial Dialogue as a special initiative taken by the leaders of the two countries, indicating the high relevance and need for cooperation between the two countries. At the end of the meeting, the two countries signed four agreements, contracts and protocols.