India's MoD chief says cooperation with Russia despite external pressure

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that the country has decided to develop cooperation with Russia even in the face of geopolitical challenges and enormous public and private pressure. He said this during talks with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov in Moscow on December 10.

"Even though there are geopolitical challenges and there are tremendous pressures of public and private nature, India has taken a conscious decision that it will not only continue its close contacts with Russia but will deepen and expand our engagement. We will always stand with our Russian counterparts," Singh said.

The minister also noted that multilateral platforms such as the G20, BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) provide opportunities for countries to engage with each other. In his view, the relationship between Moscow and New Delhi has shown resilience and is evolving in the circumstances of countering geopolitical challenges.

Earlier in the day, Belousov said that Russia-India military-to-military cooperation is successfully developing in multilateral formats and on a permanent basis. According to the Russian defense minister, the key role in strengthening cooperation between Russia and India is played by the trusting relationship between the leaders of the two countries.

The head of the Indian Defense Ministry arrived in Russia on an official visit the day before, the embassy of the republic in Moscow reported in its Telegram channel. The report said that during the visit, the minister will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and will co-chair the intergovernmental commission on military and military-technical cooperation between India and Russia with Belousov.

On June 21, the Russian government approved the signing of an agreement between Russia and India on mutual dispatch of troops, warships aviation in the territories of the two countries. The project was preliminarily worked out with the Indian side. On August 23, a delegation of the Russian Defense Ministry discussed with Indian counterparts during an official visit to the country the possibilities of expanding naval cooperation between the two countries.

Prior to that, on February 19, ships of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy - the Varyag guards missile cruiser of the Order of Nakhimov and the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate - participated in the international multilateral naval exercise MILAN-2024, which was held in India. For training, Russian sailors visited the Indian port of Vishakhapatnam and spent more than a week there. In addition to the exercises, the naval personnel of the Talnakh Conventional Naval Forces took part in sports and cultural programs.