Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko dismissed a Reuters report that claimed that New Delhi wants to distance itself from Moscow in the area of defence cooperation.
“We have no such information. This is all on Reuters’ conscience. Our Indian partners, as before, are interested in cooperation, including in this area,” the Russian diplomat was quoted as saying by Russia’s TASS news agency.
Russia supplied more than 60% of India’s weapons purchases of more than $60 billion in the last two decades.
India has been biggest customer for Russia's defence equipment between 2018 and 2022. More than 31% of Moscow's defence exports went to India.
However, there was a 37% decrease in the period, compared to India's imports from Russia between 2013 and 2017.
Arms imports by India went up from $2.4 billion in 2004 to $5.37 billion in 2013 before cooling down to $2.87 billion in 2022, according to data from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
From Russian-origin tanks to aircraft carriers and surface-to-air missile systems, they make up for a significant portion of India’s military hardware. The two countries jointly make the BrahMos cruise missile and plan to produce AK-203 rifles in India.
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