Ivanov, Antony to discuss bilateral military-tech coop in New Delhi

Moscow, Jan 22 (UNI) Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, who flew to Bangalore today, will discuss wide-ranging military-technical cooperation to futher boost strategic partnership with his Indian counterpart A K Antony on January 24 in New Delhi at the sixth Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission meeting on Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC).

Announcing this, the spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry Sergei Rybakov told mediapersons that Mr Ivanov, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of defence industry, will hold parleys in Bangalore with the representatives of business groups and heads of major aircraft and space companies and visit some enterprises.

He is also scheduled to meet the senior officials of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), IT giants Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services.

This will be the first time that Mr Ivanov will cochair the IRIGC-MTC meeting with Mr Antony after his recent appointment as Defence Minister.

The programme of bilateral military-technical cooperation up to 2010 includes over 200 various projects worth about 20 billion US dollars. A considerable part these projects have already been implemented, Rybakov said.

Among the biggest deals are the licensed production of Su-30 planes, supplies of deck MiG-29 fighters and Ka-31 helicopters, supplies and licensed production of T-90 tanks and delivery of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

"Russia and India are linked with very good traditional relations, particularly in the high technology sector. The two countries' military technical cooperation is developing successfully as well," Itar-Tass quoted Defence Minister Ivanov as saying before his departure.

Mr Ivanov will also call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and hold talks with National Security Adviser M K Naranayan, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakokdkar.

After the IRIGC-MTC meeting, he will join as a member of the delegation accompanying President Vladimir Putin at the India-Russia summit talks on January 25.

UNI