India, Russia hold military to military talks on spare parts & maintenance issues
Military Cooperation of the Indian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) is being held at Manekshaw Centre in Delhi on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the issue of spare parts and maintenance issue of Russian origin defence equipment used by India. The meeting is being chaired by Lt Gen Johnson P Mathew, CISC HQ IDS from the Indian side and Lt Gen Dylevskii Igor Nikolaevich, Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation from the Russian side.
The Working Group Meeting is a forum established to progress defence cooperation between the two countries. India that heavily uses Russian defence equipment discussed the issue of spare parts & maintenance with the visiting team amid the ongoing Ukraine war, it has been learnt.
From Sukhoi fighter jets to tanks to the Navy, Russian origin equipment are key elements of Indian armed forces. The Russia-Ukraine war has impacted military supplies to India.
Besides challenges over the payment mechanism, Russia’s own requirements slowed down supplies to India. However, its has been learnt that the Russian defence industry has bounced back and is focusing on production of various defence items.
Russian state run news agencies reported earlier this year that Russia had supplied India with $13 billion worth of arms in the past five years. Since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, India has maintained that dialogue and diplomacy are necessary to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and has boosted its trade ties with Moscow.
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