Russia India Relations: Russian Fighter Jets Agreement Could Be Finalized By March

Russia and India have been working together on deals to manufacture spare parts for some of Russia’s most lethal combat vehicles and are close to a final agreement. The countries are in an “advanced stage” for putting together an accord to create parts and a logistics hub for the Russian fighter jet Su-30MKI.

The potential agreement comes after two years of improving correspondence between the two countries, Sputnik News, a Russian state owned media organization, reported Wednesday.

“Our status with Russia is much better than two years back. We have signed many of the contracts this year, very few are left. We are working on long-term arrangements including the manufacturing some of the spares in India. Earlier, there were some problems due to the need to change their laws," Manohar Parrikar, India's Defense Minister, said, referring to Russian legal hurdles.

The delegations negotiating the deal could sign contracts as soon as March. The countries have previously made long-term repair agreements so that jets can be available more readily. In spite of those previous agreements, moving spare parts for the jets is still difficult and Russian-manufactured parts can take a year and a half to get through bureaucratic processes and into India.

Russia and India have traditionally had a close relationship that extends back to the era of the Soviet Union. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed 16 agreements to promote defense cooperation, cyber security, nuclear issues and anti-terrorism coordination, according to the Russia and India Report.

The two countries have also held joint naval exercises in the past. Last year, the two conducted mock wartime maneuvers in the Bay of Bengal. That marked the ninth time that the two had held joint exercises of those kind since 2003. The navies were also deployed form the Indian port of Visakhaptnam, according to the Diplomat.