Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Russian Counterpart Co-Chair 22nd Inter-Governmental Commission

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov co-chaired the 22nd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission in Delhi, discussing defence cooperation, indigenous production, and opportunities for technology collaboration.

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov co-chaired the 22nd session of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC), wherein both the leaders reiterated that the relationship between the two countries is based on a deep sense of trust, common principles and mutual respect.

The meeting took place hours before the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Russia Vladimir Putin, who has arrived this evening in the national capital.

During their meeting, Rajnath Singh voiced the Government of India's determination for capacity building of its indigenous defence industry for both local production and exports, under the vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

“He also stressed on new opportunities for enhancing collaboration between both counties across niche technologies,” an official said.

The visiting minister emphasised on deepening relationship between both the countries which is based on mutual trust.

“He highlighted that both countries are united by many years of friendship and strategic cooperation.”

Andrei Belousov also stated that the Russian defence instruments is ready to support India towards becoming self-reliant in the field of defence production.

Further, he invited his Indian counterpart to visit Russia to co-chair the 23rd session of IRIC-M&MTC in 2026.

At the end, “the two Ministers signed the protocol of the 22nd IRIGC-M&MTC meeting highlighting the ongoing and prospective areas of cooperation.”