Indian Air Force wary about Russian Fighter Jet
Defence Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu calls on Prime Minister of India Narendera Modi, as the former visits India for the 14th meeting of the Inter Governmental Commission on Military and Technical Cooperation, which will be co-chaired by the Defence Minister of India Manohar Parrikar. If the sources have to be believed upon, one of the sources from Indian Defence Ministry was quoted to have told TASS, a Russian News Agency, that the Russian Minister would discuss the implementation of the joint project of a Fifth Generation Fighter Jet (FGFA). In 2014, this project had come under criticism from the Indian Air Force Command, which according to the sources, had said that Russia was unlikely be able to fulfil all of its liabilities under the project and the future military technical cooperation between India and Russia would depend on this project. Apart from that, the Russian Minister will also attend a session of the Russian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Technical Cooperation and will visit the Russian-Indian joint venture BrahMos Aerospace Limited that makes supersonic cruise missiles, say the sources. According to TASS report, Russian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission is also considering another joint project — a medium-lift transport jet, and to discuss other subjects, including Russia’s leasing out another nuclear-powered submarine to India. Yet another subject for discussion will be production of Ka-226T helicopters in India, the issue of which was raised during the Russian President Vladamir Putin’s to India earlier. According to Tatiana Shaumyan, Head of the Center for Indian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to India may be a kind of continuation of the discussions started during Putin’s visit. Earlier in December 2014, referring to Sergei Shoigu’s Paksitan visit, Official spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Syed Akbaruddin had said, "The first-ever visit by the Russian Defence Minister to Pakistan is obviously significant... India has noted that Russia like other countries have chosen to progress defence cooperation with our neighbor," according to the sources.
This article was published on January 21, 2015.
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