India signs military deals with Russia, raises ‘unprovoked aggression’ from China

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addressed the ‘2+2’ dialogue where Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu are also participating.

India had faced ‘unprovoked aggression’ on its northern borders for more than a year, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday during the first-ever India-Russia ‘2+2’ dialogue here. Both sides renewed the military-technical cooperation agreement for another 10 years till 2031 and also signed the deal for the manufacture of Ak-203 assault rifles, a defence official said.

“I had the opportunity to discuss in detail the emerging challenges India is confronted with and the enhanced requirement of India for closer military to military technical collaboration with Russia. The pandemic, the extraordinary militarisation and expansion of armament in our neighbourhood and unprovoked aggression on our northern border since early summer of 2020 has thrown in several challenges,” said Mr. Singh addressing the ‘2+2’ dialogue where Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu are also participating.

Mr. Singh sought “greater engagements in Central Asia and the Indian Ocean Region” during the talks.