NEW DELHI. Jan 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Military-technical cooperation between Russia and India since 1960 totals USD33bn, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told the Russian press upon arriving in New Delhi.
"Military-technical cooperation with India is based on there being no threat from this country nor a threat to India from us. This is the strategic foundation of our military-technical cooperation with India. This cooperation is roughly estimated at USD33bn since 1960," Ivanov said.
"Thousands of Russian military men have served in India, and tens of thousands of Russian citizens have worked at industrial enterprises and construction sites in India," the minister said.
Ivanov said his current visit to India was planned in advance.
"I was to visit India in November 2003, but a number of contracts were not ready for juridical rather than technical reasons, and the trip was delayed for one month," he said.
"This was not a problem. A final agreement about the visit was reached with the Indian prime minister in Russia in November 2003. I had a separate meeting with him," Ivanov said.
"Military-technical cooperation is not the only area in which we are building relations with India," he said.
"We have many things in common in addition to military- technical cooperation. India is our strategic partner. It is a country that is fighting international terrorism with deeds, not words, and shares many of our political ideas about the world's multi-polarity and the consideration of everyone's interests, especially those of large countries," he said.