Improve after-sales support for Russian defence platforms: India to Russia

India has conveyed to Russia the need for improving after-sales support of Russian-origin platforms being used by the Indian armed forces.

The issue figured prominently during the third India-Russia military industrial conference held here on the sidelines of the Defence Expo, officials said.

They said seven MoUs were signed between the Indian private defence firms and Russian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) for the production of spares of select Russian-origin platforms which are being used by the Indian armed forces.

Russia has been one of India's key suppliers of arms and ammunition. However, it has been a long-standing grievance of the armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time affecting maintenance of military systems procured from that country.

India has been pressing Russia to adopt a liberal approach in sharing technology for components of major defence platforms as it was critical to keep them in operational readiness.

The Indian delegation at the conference was led by Secretary (Defence Production) Ajay Kumar, while Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russian Federation Oleg Ryazantcev led the Russian side.

The Russian delegation comprised senior representatives of the Russian government and representatives of the leading defence industries.

Around 75 Indian defence manufacturing companies and 28 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) from Russian industry participated in the conference.

The focus was on improving after sales support of Russian-origin defence equipment which are being used by the Indian armed forces.

The first India-Russia military industrial conference was held in March 2017 in New Delhi, while the second one had taken place in August 2017 in Moscow, the Defence Ministry said.