The President of Russia generally does not meet ministers other than the head of state of any country, but this is the second time he has met India’s ‘junior’ leaders this year.
At the beginning of the year, Vladimir Putin met India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and now the Russian President met Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. During this meeting, he invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Moscow.
The Russian President met the Indian Foreign Minister in a charming atmosphere, and his body language looked positive.
Russia and India Arms Production Agreement
At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Moscow on Wednesday that Russia and India have made concrete progress in the negotiations on a plan to produce military equipment jointly.
Speaking at a press conference, Lavrov said such cooperation is strategic and in the interest of both countries and will help ensure security on the Eurasian continent.
He said Moscow respects India’s desire to diversify its military hardware suppliers and is also ready to support New Delhi’s desire to make India what India needs.
At the same time, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar hoped that Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would meet next year.
Jaishankar said he and Lavrov discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and bilateral trade and investment.
Let us tell you that after the West imposed comprehensive sanctions on Moscow in 2022 over the war in Ukraine, India has become one of the major economic partners of Russia.
Russia has diverted most of its oil exports to India and stepped up diplomacy within the BRICS group of countries, of which the two countries are founding members.
Jaishankar said India-Russia trade is expected to reach above $50 billion this year.
He said New Delhi is keen to sign a bilateral investment pact with Russia and a free trade agreement with the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union.
India Is The World’s Top Arms Purchasing Country
Let us tell you that India has been among the countries that purchase the most arms in the world, and the Modi government’s effort is to make India self-reliant in arms production. Therefore, during the Modi government’s tenure, most arms deals were being done in which arms production in India was included as a partner.
In the SIPRI report released in March this year, India remained at the top of the list of countries purchasing the most arms globally. SIPRI has said that India’s share in total arms imports worldwide is 11 per cent, and between 2018 and 2022, India purchased the maximum number of arms.
Before this, India had been the world’s largest arms importer since 1993. However, now the Indian government has focused towards self-reliant India instead of importing weapons, and many weapons are now being manufactured in India itself.
At the same time, between the years 2018 and 2022, India has significantly reduced the purchase of arms from Russia. In these four years, India’s arms import from Russia has fallen from 64 per cent to 45 per cent, which is expected to decrease further.
