RUSSIA-INDIA: Moscow And New Delhi to Discuss Military Cooperation
MOSCOW, Dic 20 (IPS) - Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin is due to arrive in India Thursday on a visit which will highlight Moscow's desire to reinforce trade and defence cooperation links with Asian and African countries.
Chernomyrdin was scheduled to leave here on Wednesday but his departure has been postponed because of a family bereavement. While in New Delhi, Chernomyrdin will sign a protocol on military- technical cooperation and reach an agreement on accelerating the pace of Indian debt repayment to Russia.
Reports which have not been officially confirmed also indicate a likely purchase by the Indian air force of Mig-29 combat aircraft in a deal which will strengthen 30 years of bilateral cooperation in the defence field.
Advance delegations of the Russian arms export monopoly 'Rosvooruzhenie' have been in India ahead of Chernomyrdin with negotiations underway on a large number of other defence items including a Kiev class aircraft carrier.
India was among the largest buyers of Soviet weapon systems and is still seen as a major market by Russian arms manufacturers who have this year concluded pioneering joint ventures for the upgrading and servicing of arms exports.
On the eve of the visit, Chernomyrdin said that there is a congruence of Russian and Indian long-term national interests while Russian diplomatic analysts speak of a triangular power configuration in Asia based on the growing links between Moscow, New Delhi and Beijing.
During the Cold War, Russia and China were ideological rivals while Indo-Chinese relations were plagued by territorial disputes and suspicions over New Delhi's proximity to Moscow and Beijing's ties with Pakistan.
Russia is also making strenuous efforts to revive its presence in countries of the Third World which in the Soviet era formed an enormous market for industrial and project exports besides arms sales.
The move comes amid Moscow's growing disenchantment with the West which has in Russian eyes failed to live up to its promises of large-scale economic assistance and cooperation.
© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service