New Delhi:

As Rajnath Singh and his top delegation of defence personnel continue their Russia visit, there are talks of a mega defence agreement between Moscow and New Delhi being in advanced stages. The deal – reportedly worth $4 billion will give a massive boost to India’s air defence infrastructure.

The equipment being discussed by both sides is the advanced ‘Voronezh’ series radar which is manufactured by Russia’s Almaz-Antey Corporation, which is a specialist organisation for manufacturing anti-aircraft missile systems and radars.

The Voronezh radar is a very-long-range early warning radar system with a range well over 8,000 kilometers. It is capable of identifying and tracking threats like ballistic missiles, fighter jets, and ICBMs. Should India acquire it, the advanced radar system will be able to detect any air threat from anywhere in China, South and Central Asia, and most of the Indian Ocean region.

The Voronezh radar can detect more than 500 objects simultaneously. While its overall range can go up to 10,000 kilometers, it’s vertical range exceeds 8,000 km and horizon range is over 6,000 km. Moscow claims that the Voronezh radar system can even track stealth aircraft. Due to its massive vertical range, it can provide complete data about ICBMs and situational awareness of near-Earth objects in space.

According to a report by Russia Today, talks between Moscow and New Delhi have been on for a while and last month, a team from Almaz-Antey even visited India to interact with possible offset partners who will be part of the project.

In another report by The Sunday Guardian, there is a push under the ‘Make in India’ initiative for at least 60 per cent of the radar system to be manufactured locally, for which offset partners are being sought in India.

Should the deal be finalised, the advanced radar system will likely be set up in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district, and the designated location for it has also reportedly been surveyed. Chitradurga is already home to some of India’s most advanced and top secret defence and aerospace facilities.

The radar system, once acquired, will significantly improve India’s threat-detection and surveillance capabilities in Asia and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It will also enhance India’s air defence infrastructure to fulfil its needs amid ever-growing regional and global challenges.

On day 2 of his visit today, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov will co-chair a top-level meeting on military-technical cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow. India and Russia share a special, privileged, and strategic defence partnership.

Mr Singh will also take stock of the deliveries of the two remaining S-400 Triumph missile systems that New Delhi is yet to receive. India had signed a deal in 2018 for Russia to supply its advanced S-400 missile systems.
 

A file photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow for a standalone State visit from July 8 to 9 to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin that is expected to focus on strategic, economic and military ties, will reverse the perception of a “drift” in relations, said experts.

The Modi-Putin talks are expected to focus on the rise in India-Russia trade due to India’s import of oil, smoothening out payment issues arising from Western sanctions, build on previous conversations on the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime route, and conclude the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) agreement, that will pave the way for more defence exchanges.

Also read: Russia approves draft logistics agreement to be signed with India

Mr. Modi’s trip to Moscow is his first visit since 2015, and marks a return to the decades-old annual India-Russia summit format. He had met Mr. Putin in St. Petersburg in 2017, Sochi in 2018, Vladivostok in 2019 apart from Mr. Putin’s visits to India in 2016, 2018 and 2021. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan in 2022, but have not held the annual bilateral summit for the last three years.

“The break in regular summitry — initially due to Covid, and a rapidly changing international situation — make it imperative that both sides reverse the perception in the international community of a drift in bilateral relations,” said former Ambassador to Moscow Venkatesh Verma. “Hence, the visit is timely, but also overdue to recharge the wellsprings of the strategic partnership,” he told The Hindu.

Sources said the final details of Mr. Modi’s programme is still being finalised, and advance MEA and security teams are in Moscow to make arrangements for the visit, which has yet to be formally announced.

The PM’s trip, which is likely to be his first bilateral visit abroad in his third term, would place Russia on par with India’s closest neighbours that have normally been the destination of first visits by Indian Prime Ministers. The visit will also be a signal to Western countries including the U.S. and Europe that Mr. Modi intends to continue to “balance” India’s ties, two years since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began.

While the government has not announced any plans for Mr. Modi to visit Kyiv on this visit, he will travel to Vienna between July 9 and 10. Meanwhile, by travelling to Moscow next week for a bilateral visit, Mr. Modi might also indicate that he is not as keen to pursue India’s position at multilateral summits, particularly given China’s presence. This week, he has deputed External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to attend the SCO summit in Kazakhstan, and it remains to be seen whether Mr. Modi will now return to Russia for the BRICS summit in October.

Experts also said that Mr. Modi’s visit will allow him to get a “first-hand account” of how Russia’s war in Ukraine is proceeding, and also discuss thorny issues like the recruitment of Indians to work as Russian military “helpers” that India has opposed, as well as to speed up the supply of defence hardware and spares that have been delayed due to the war.

“The visit will go a long way in removing some of the apprehensions about waning political ties between the two countries, and allow the leaders to resolve pending issues,” said scholar and distinguished fellow at ORF Nandan Unnikrishnan, who travelled to Moscow last week for the “Primakov Readings International Forum” where Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said Mr. Modi’s visit “perfectly fits” into Russia’s strategic foreign policy line.

Mr. Lavrov said that India, like China had made a “choice” to deal with Russia in national currencies, adding that about 60% of India-Russia trade is now settled in them, despite the fact that both China and India are engaged economically with western countries that have sanctioned Russia. “They are fully aware of the discriminatory nature of what the West is doing,” Mr. Lavrov added.

On the bilateral front, officials said that India and Russia are discussing increased investments in the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor and in Siberia, while India wants to source minerals from Russia. Issues that need to be sorted include insurance, and negotiating with ports in between for transit, a source said, adding that there may be some issues with ports in China. The maritime route presents a more effective option than the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) or other options, the source added.

(With inputs from Dinakar Peri)