Russia and India signed a clutch of defence and energy deals on Thursday as prime minister Narendra Modi visited Moscow to reaffirm one of the world’s most valuable military relationships.
Following a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, the two leaders announced deals to build Russian-designed Kamov helicopters in India and for the location of a new nuclear power plant to be built by Russian state nuclear company Rosatom.
India, the world’s largest importer of defence equipment, is set to spend $250bn over the next decade modernising its antiquated hardware. But Mr Modi has made it a key policy to push for these new weapons systems and other equipment to be made mostly in India rather than abroad.