Russia agrees to set up spare parts manufacturing hubs in India for Russian-origin defence platforms

The manufacturing of the defence items would be carried out under the Make-in-India program through transfer of technology. The joint ventures will produce spare parts, components among others to meet the Indian Armed Forces’ requirements.

Anish Kumar

First Published Jul 10, 2024, 8:32 AM IST | Last Updated Jul 10, 2024, 8:31 AM IST

With soaring concerns in New Delhi over inordinate delays in delivering of spare parts for the defence platforms being used by the armed forces, India and Russia on Tuesday agreed to set up joint manufacturing hubs of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment, in India.

The products can also be exported to mutually friendly third countries by the Sides’ approval, a joint statement read.

At the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit in Moscow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Russia on a 2-day visit, raised the issue of delay in supplies with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

While addressing the journalists in Moscow, India’s foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said: "Both sides had a general sense of agreement that this would be expedited including through setting up joint venture partnerships in India to look at some of these spare parts, particularly the more critical ones so that we are able to address the challenge in a meaningful way."

Kwatra said that the two leaders emphasised on the larger domain of the co-production of military hardware.

The foreign secretary said: “We already have some good examples of co-production in the field of defence and we would very much like to build on that and add on new equipment if needed as part of co-production.”

It is pertinent to mention here that Moscow has been the largest arms and hardware supplier to New Delhi since the 1970s. As of now, about 70 per cent of India’s defence hardware inventory is from Russia or the former Soviet Union and most of the license-based defense production comes from Russia.

“Responding to India’s quest for self-sufficiency, the partnership is reorienting presently to joint research and development, co-development and joint production of advanced defence technology and systems. The Sides confirmed commitment to maintain the momentum of joint military cooperation activities and expand military delegation exchanges,” the joint statement said.

The two sides also agreed on establishing a new Working Group on Technological Cooperation and discussing its provisions during the next meeting of 21st round of Intergovernmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC), scheduled to be held in a few months in Moscow.

This was Modi’s first meeting with the Russian president since he returned to power for a third consecutive term in June this year and also the first visit by him to Moscow since the Ukraine war began in 2022.

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