MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) – India’s contacts with third countries will not affect Russian-Indian defense cooperation, Indian Ambassador to Russia Pundi Srinivasan Raghavan said Thursday in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“Russia is our leading partner in military-technical cooperation and it is the only country with which India has an Inter-Governmental Commission headed by the defence ministers. Our defence cooperation is based on mutual benefit and is not impacted by other bilateral relationships,” Raghavan said.
In mid-July, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that Russia and India agree on the necessity of cooperation in politics, economy, international affairs, as well as military-technical cooperation.
The Russian leader also stressed that relations between the two countries “rely on a solid basis of longstanding friendship and mutual respect of our nations."
The full interview with Indian Ambassador to Russia Pundi Srinivasan Raghavan is available at the RIA Novosti website, www.ria.ru.
