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NEW DELHI — India-Russia defense talks scheduled to run Oct. 4-10 have been postponed, according to a news release stating that Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has deferred his visit due to pressing official engagements at home.
“It has been conveyed by the Russian side that the Russian Defence Minister was required to stay in Russia for his urgent participation in a programme of the Russian President,” the release said.
Indian and Russian defense officials are expected to discuss the delivery of the Russian aircraft carrier, the former Admiral Gorshkov, to India, among other issues.
Besides the delayed delivery of the aircraft carrier, India will also finalize the work scheduled on the joint development of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft, the multirole transport aircraft and issues relating to transfer of technology for the Russian-made T-90 tanks.
India is producing T-90 tanks at Indian facilities under license from Russia, but the production of indigenous tanks has stalled because Russia is refusing to give full technology transfer. So far the production is based only on partly formed kits coming from Russia along with other key technologies.
The T-90 is the main battle tank for the Indian Army and was first contracted in 2004.
