Russia’s defence chief plans to visit India next year

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu is due to pay an official visit to New Delhi next year as Russia is boosting its strategic partnership with India. Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said “a mechanism of the Russian-Indian staff negotiations has been launched and this year we have held exercises of all the three branches of armed forces.” India remains Russia’s largest partner in the sphere of military and technical cooperation. “Apart from the supplies of ready-to-go weapons we continue providing assistance in the development of its military and industrial complex,” the official said. In November, the Russian defence minister paid a visit to India’s neighbor Pakistan. Shoigu and his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Asif signed an agreement on cooperation between the countries' defence ministries. The document is an important step in strengthening bilateral ties in defence sphere, Shoigu said. Read more