ST. PETERSBURG. June 25 (Interfax-AVN) - India regards the implementation of the export contract for the construction of three Project 11356 frigates by Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in St. Petersburg as a new chapter in Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation.
Project 11356 opened a new chapter in relations between the two countries, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Arun Prakash said Wednesday at the transfer of The Trishul frigate to the Indian Navy.
He said that this is the first time Russian and Indian technologies have been combined in a ship of this type. New opportunities for further cooperation are opening up for the two countries, he added.
The admiral said India has plans for the joint building of aircraft, submarines and missiles with Russia.
He also said that India and Russia had successfully conducted joint naval exercises. In the future we will pay even more attention to cooperation with Russia, he emphasized.
In response to a question from Interfax-AVN, Prakash said that India definitely had taken risks setting up such modern frigates. If one wants to have state-of-the-art weapons, he has to take risks, he said. He emphasized that the risks had been forecast, and the Russian partners had minimized them.
He also said that India wished Russia to more intensively cooperate in post-sale service of the frigates and supplies of spare parts and accessories for them.