After US, France And Australia, India To Sign Defence Logistics Sharing Pact With Russia

A formal agreement between India and Russia on defence logistics sharing to enable seamless acess to each other's military bases is likely to be signed at the annual summit planned later this year, reports Economic Times.

According to the report, the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement will not only simplify interoperability but also enable support to military plarforms like warships and aircraft.

The negotiations for the pact are currently undergoing and it could be signed during the next edition of annual summit when Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India later this year, sources were quoted in the report as saying.

Under the agreement, warships of both the countries will get access to mutual ports and exclusive economic zones to refuel and pick up supplies.

Using the pact, the Indian Navy, which has a significant number of Russian origin warships, will be able to smoothly transit through for exercises or refits. Similarly, the proposed agreement will also enable the Indian Air Force to deploy aircraft for joint exercises.

Besides, the proposed pact could also have a component by which a certain number of troops could be deployed in each other's country.

With the pact, Russia could gain access to Indian ports like Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam for refuelling. Similarly, India could also use Russian airbases and ports including the ports in Russian part of Arctic.

India has signed similar logistics sharing pacts with the United States, France and Australia while discussions are on to finalise the agreement with Japan.