Russia, India to sign agreement on military cooperation in 2011-2020.

MOSCOW, October 15 (Itar-Tass) - Russia and India are expected to sign
on Thursday an agreement on a military-technical cooperation programme in
2011-2020, Defence Ministry deputy spokeswoman Irina Kovalchuk said on
Wednesday.

The second day of the ninth session of the Russian-Indian
inter-governmental commission on military-technical cooperation will be
held under the chairmanship of the Russian and Indian defence ministers,
Anatoly Serdyukov and Arackaparambil Kurian Antony.
According to the deputy spokeswoman, the session of the commission
"considers major issues of Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation".
"They include the implementation of the project to modernise the Admiral
Gorshkov aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy, further development and
production of a new multifunctional fighter plane and a multipurpose
transport plane, production of Su-30MKI and T-90S tanks under license in
India, as well as preparations for the signing of an agreement on a
military-technical cooperation programme in 2011-2020," Kovalchuk said.
On Wednesday, the defence ministers reviewed the commission's work in
the past period and approved the activity of its working groups (the
previous, eighth meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2008), she
reported.
After the first day of commission's work, Serdyukov expressed
confidence that "the present session of the commission and documents
signed at it will make their contribution to the development of
military-technical cooperation, which is one of the key components of
Russian-Indian strategic partnership".
The Russian Defence Ministry leadership and officials of the Federal
Service for Military-Technical Cooperation have repeatedly said that
Russia and India in this sphere have long departed from the seller-buyer
relations, they not only jointly develop and produce high-technology
military products, but also advance it on the markets of third countries.
The Russian-Indian JV BrahMos Aerospace Limited that produces the
BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles is a bright example of such
cooperation. The missile's sea- and ground-based versions have been
adopted for service in the Indian Ground Forces and Navy. Along with the
creation of an aircraft version of missiles for the Su-30MKI fighter, work
is continued for the modification of missiles for launch from submarines.
The order portfolio for BrahMos missiles has reached a record high level
of 1 billion US dollars.

.Russian envoy offers NATO to listen to report on Caucasus war.

BRUSSELS, October 15 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Ambassador to NATO Dmitry
Rogozin has offered the Alliance to invite the head of the group
investigating the conflict in South Ossetia, Heidi Tagliavini, and listen
to her report on war causes at a session of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership
Council (EAPC).
Rogozin told Tass the offer was voiced at a working session of the
Council at the level of ambassadors on Wednesday. According to him, NATO
Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisogniero promised to consider the
proposal.
"We can even say that the issue was supported by the Georgian side, as
the Georgian ambassador stated that Georgia was not afraid of that offer,"
Rogozin noted.
"In its previous statements, NATO has repeatedly stated that the
Alliance will finally decide who is responsible for the August conflict
after familiarizing itself with the results of the international
investigation," Rogozin told Tass.
"After that report appeared, the NATO leadership and the leading
countries of the Alliance pretended that nothing had happened and they
were not aware," he stressed.
"In order not to leave in the past irritants or a serious
misconception which resulted in a crisis in relations between Russia and
NATO in 2008, the Russian side considers it necessary to invite in the
EAPC the authors of the report and pose direct questions to them," Rogozin
stressed.
"It must become clear to everybody who committed aggression, who
violated international law, whether NATO's statements that Russia
intentionally delivered attacks on Georgia's civil facilities and many
other issues are true, as the report of Heidi Tagliavini gives clear
answers to that," the NATO ambassador emphasized.
"The aggressor must be punished with uttermost tough political
measures and must be isolated from contacts with decent people," Rogozin
said.
The report of Heidi Tagliavini contains an unequivocal conclusion that
it was Georgia that started a war in the Caucasus overnight to August 8,
2008.
The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council brings together the NATO
countries and the countries participating in NATO's Partnership for Peace
programme. All in all, it includes 60 countries.
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