http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10286
Russia, India sign military pact ISN SECURITY WATCH (02//12/04) - India and Russia have signed a military pact ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's three-day visit to New Delhi. The pact was signed by the Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov, and will enhance military ties and joint defense research projects between the two countries. Russia has assured India that it would not sell weapons and defense technology to Pakistan if New Delhi honored Moscow's interests in mutual defense cooperation. A report by the Press Trust of India quoted an unnamed Russian official in Moscow as saying that if India did not honor the commitment, Russia would be free to sell weapons to India's archrival, Pakistan. "If India will not fully honor our interests, then there is no need to attach strings, conditions, and demands from Russia not to trade [in arms] with Pakistan," an unnamed Defense Ministry source was quoted as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti agency ahead of Putin visit to India, which begins tomorrow. At India's request, Moscow has halted defense sector cooperation with Islamabad, the unnamed official said, adding that if India failed to keep Russia's interests in mind, Moscow would resume its defense sector ties with Pakistan. So far, Russia has supplied Mi-17 dual-purpose helicopters to Pakistan, PTI said. The news agency quoted Ivanov as saying in Moscow on Tuesday that defense ties with India could also come to a halt if India sought to mix its technologies with proposed purchases from the US. Russia, which was India's largest arms supplier, mostly on generous credit, is now seeking a more mutually beneficial way to resolve the debt India accrued during the Soviet era, and the three-day visit is likely to discuss the conversion of the approximately US$3 billion debt into joint defense ventures. Moscow is also keen for India to extend its support for Russia's membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). A document to that end might be signed during Putin's visit. Meanwhile, India and Russia have agreed to take their strategic partnership to a "higher" technological level, even as efforts continued to iron out differences on contentious issues like protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and maintenance of delivery schedules of weapon systems. Russia wants India to promptly sign an IPR agreement to ensure that advanced weapon systems developed jointly, like the 300-kilometer-range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, are not handed over to third countries without mutual agreement, The Times of India reported. While not averse to the agreement, India wants Russia to give strong commitments on the maintenance of delivery schedules for contracted weapons systems, the uninterrupted supply of spare parts, and life-term product support. These issues emerged in the 4th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation meeting that kicked off yesterday, with Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Russia's Ivanov leading the two high-level delegations. "We are prepared to transfer high-tech frontier technology to India in a strategic tie-up based on a new pattern of defense cooperation," The Times of India quoted Ivanov as saying. India's military is also seeking a breakthrough in stalled talks with Moscow to reach a tripartite pact with Israel for revamping India's fleet of Tu-142 maritime surveillance aircraft. It bought the planes from the Soviet Union in 1988. (By Ravi Prasad in Bonn) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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