MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax-AVN) - Military-technical cooperation issues will be among the highlights on the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India that starts on Tuesday, Andrei Nikolayev, defense committee chairman in the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament, told Interfax- Military News Agency.
"Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation is developing in three spheres. The first sphere is supplies of ready-made military hardware and armament, modernization and repairs of existing stocks. The second sphere is licensed production of Russian hardware and weapons such as T-90S tanks and SU-30MKI fighters at Indian plants. The third sphere, which is the most complicated one, is joint development and production of the latest hardware and armament needed for maintaining security of both Russia and India as well as for sales to third countries," Nikolayev said.
He mentioned the development of the new Brahmos supersonic cruise missile by Russian and Indian defense industry enterprises as an example of such cooperation.
Asked about prospects of signing an agreement on the sale of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier to India, the lawmaker said that Russia is ready to make a political decision on the packaged agreement. India is also ready to settle the issue on the political level, he said.
"Here is my forecast: the political decision on the sale of the warship will be made during the visit, but the contract will be signed later, after a series of technical talks," Nikolayev said.
"There are special matters on which the parties may continue to work," he added.
In general, Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation has broad prospects. In particular, the Admiral Gorshkov's procurement will allow India to dramatically enhance its capabilities to maintain national security, Nikolayev said.
The lawmaker visited India from November 27 to December 1. He met with high-ranking officials of the Indian parliament, Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry.