At the 18th session of the India-Russia inter-governmental commission on military-technical cooperation (IGC-MTC) in New Delhi, delegations of the two countries discussed the draft of the Military Logistics Sharing (MLS) agreement, reports Financial Express. A working group on military cooperation has also been established under the IGC-MTC framework.

India already has MLS agreements with several countries such as the US, Singapore, France and Oman.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led the Indian delegation while the Russian delegation was headed by the Russian Minister of Defence, General Sergey Shoigu.

The current progress of collaborative projects between the two countries was also discussed, as well as ways of furthering military-technical cooperation between the two. One of the ongoing projects which was reviewed was the government-to-government agreement between the two under which Russia is helping the government-run Ordnance Factory Board to establish manufacturing capacity for the Kalashnikov rifle series in India.

Joint training and joint exercises were also deliberated upon by the two delegations. India and Russia have been conducting a bilateral naval exercise ‘INDRA NAVY’ since 2003 and have started the ‘INDRA Tri-Services’ exercise since 2017.

Over the last few months, India has inked multiple large-scale defence deals with Russia, such as the US$ 5.43 billion S-400 Triumf contract and a US$ 1.5 billion deal for two Project 1135.6 frigates, which are going to be equipped with BrahMos supersonic missiles.