Article Posted on : - Jul 18, 2012

Defence Minister AK Antony (R) and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin shake hands during a meeting. A PTI photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin Tuesday met Defence Minister A K Antony here and discussed ways of further strengthening military ties between the two countries.

The two sides are believed to have discussed the ongoing cooperation in supply of hardware and issues related to it.

Russia, the biggest arms supplier to India, has been a reliable vendor for India since the cold war era and majority of the weapon systems in the Indian armed forces are of the Russian origin.

The two countries are working on co-development programmes such as the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project, Multirole Transport Aircraft (MRTA) and warship building projects.

The frontline Su-30 MKI-- which is considered to be the backbone of the IAF, is also of the Russian-origin.

The two sides have also faced problems in their defence ties in the recent past over commercial issues including over-pricing of defence equipment by the Russian side.

The biggest example in this field was Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier whose price was increased by Russia several times and India had to pay USD 2.3 billion for the deal.

Earlier in the day, the Russian dignitary visited the Indo-Russian Joint Venture BrahMos Aerospace complex here where he was given a detailed presentation of the development of the cruise missile and its different versions.