India looks forward to strong defense cooperation with Russia - Indian DM

MOSCOW. Dec 10 (Interfax) - India looks forward to working together with Russia in the defense area to be able to properly respond to new challenges to security and build a strong partnership, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said at the 21st meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military and military-technical cooperation in Moscow.

India is fully determined to build up its partnership with Russia in all defense sectors, he said.

Singh said Tuesday's meeting helped both countries to understand each other's standpoints on military-technical cooperation. He praised the work done by the teams from the two countries and said he was confident that India and Russia would continue cooperation in the spirit of mutual trust, which is important for partnership.

Singh invited Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov to take part in the AeroIndia 2025 international aerospace exhibition to be held in Bangalore in February 2025, which he described as a key platform for promoting a strategic partnership.

Belousov gratefully accepted the invitation and assured his counterpart that Russia would participate at a high level.

Singh also said the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military and military-technical cooperation would meet next time in India and invited Belousov to jointly chair that meeting.