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The agreement comes within the framework of President Vladimir Putin's visit to India.
India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh announced Monday the signing of several agreements on military matters and arms contracts with Russia, hours before the meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I am pleased that several agreements, contracts and protocols concerning arms and military cooperation have been signed," the authority said on his Twitter account after meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoigu, in New Delhi.
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After the meeting of senior officials from both countries, Prime Minister Modi received President Putin at the Hyderabad House.
The agenda for the annual summit included political and defense issues, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.
"Currently, mutual investments amount to about 38 billion with a little more investment coming from the Russian side. We cooperate enormously in the military and technical sphere like no other country. We develop high technologies together and produce in India," Putin noted during the meeting.
"India has been our friend for a long time. Trade between the countries has increased this year. We see India as a great power and our military ties are incomparable ...," he mentioned.
"Bilateral trade between India and Russia has increased by 38%; working together in various sectors, including energy and space," the leader maintained.
On his part, Modi said that the India-Russia relationship is truly a unique and reliable model of interstate friendship.
I warmly thank H.E. President Putin for his visit to India. We exchanged very useful ideas for expanding our strategic, trade & investment, energy, connectivity, defence, science & technology and cultural cooperation. We also shared views on important global and regional issues. pic.twitter.com/FQGFgQzsfX
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 6, 2021
In the last few decades, the world witnessed many fundamental changes and different types of geopolitical equations emerged, but he also noted India and Russia's friendship remained constant.
"Their love for India is evident; despite Covid and other challenges, India-Russia relations have always strengthened," Modi said in the keynote address at the bilateral meeting.
At the end of the meeting, Putin and Modi signed nearly 30 agreements and commitments in New Delhi on Monday, including deals to boost their arms industry, trade and deepen defense collaboration.
At the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the 21st India-Russia bilateral summit, the nations signed a total of 28 pacts and understandings, several of them focused on military development, defense technology transfer and cooperation, Indian Foreign Ministry joint secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told a press briefing.
During the visit, Moscow and New Delhi also agreed to strengthen their partnership by signing a long-term military and technical cooperation program for 2021-2031.
On the other hand, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that talks on the Sputnik Light anti-Covid vaccine production in India are about to be concluded.
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