Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Kremlin Source- Russia & India Report / TASS Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an exclusive interview to TASS First Deputy Director-General Mikhail Gusman on the eve of his state visit to Russia. This is his first interview with Russian media. Mr. Prime Minister, many thanks to you for giving us a chance to meet you prior to your visit to Russia. This must be your first official visit to Russia as Prime Minister but you have been there before. What are your feelings right now? What do you expect from this trip? First of all, I greet the Russian citizens from my heart, because Russia is India's unwavering friend. Russian citizens too maintained unwavering relations with India. And politically apart, the Russian citizens have shown considerable interest in the Indian traditions and India's culture. And it makes our relationship stronger. I am going on a state visit for the first time, but I have been meeting Presiden

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Indian navy) Source- Russia & India Report Russian ships will arrive at Visakhapatnam port on the southeast coast of India in the state of Andhra Pradesh on December 6 to take part in the Indra joint naval maneuvers, a source close to the Indian Ministry of Defense told TASS on Tuesday. "The exercise will be held from December 7 to 12 this year; the welcoming ceremony for the detachment of the Russian Navy ships is planned for December 6," he said. According to him, taking part in the drills from the Russian side will be a missile cruiser, a destroyer, a large sea tanker, a tugboat and two naval helicopters, and from the Indian side - a multipurpose frigate, a destroyer, an anti-submarine plane, a Coast Guard plane, two training planes and a helicopter. "The maneuvers will focus on drilling antisubmarine defense of ships, gun practice on surface and air targets. Also, it is planned to conduct anti-terrorist ope

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons Source- The Diplomat Author- Kabir Taneja Over the past six months, Russia has made its presence felt in the global realpolitik scene with gusto. With the Kremlin militarily intervening in Syria, reportedly bombing ISIS and in effect protecting Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus, while juggling a yet unresolved Ukraine crisis and dealing with Western sanctions… Moscow has its hands full. Most aspects of India-Russia bilateral ties are quite institutionalized, and work in an automated manner irrespective of who is in power in New Delhi or Moscow. Russia could perhaps be seen as India’s only definitive “strategic” partner in its truest form, and this unique relationship has developed over decades. However, over the past year the Moscow-Delhi dynamic seems to have lost some of its previous momentum. This may now be about to change, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi preparing to make his first visit to Moscow early next month. Ru

Russian S-400 Missile ( Source- Wikimedia Commons / Соколрус) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda India has agreed to procure Russia’s advanced S-400 Triumf surface-to-air anti-ballistic missile system in a deal valued at around $10 billion dollars. Once completed, the S-400 deal could represent the largest one ever between New Delhi and Moscow and a major coup for Russia, which has sought to sell its S-400s across the world. According to Indian state media, the S-400 deal was agreed to between Indian Defese Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu during a meeting of a high-level bilateral group on military and technical cooperation. The deal will likely be announced formally during the anticipated state visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia later this year. The S-400 is an impressive piece of equipment and is an evolution of the S-300 anti-ballistic missile defense system. The S-400 is manufactured by Almaz-Antey and

INS Arihant ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Indian navy) Source- Russia & India Report The India-Russia partnership has resulted in a string of successful defence projects, but none is more strategically important than INS Arihant, India’s first indigenously developed nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine. The 6000 ton Arihant, which has completed sea trials, is likely to undergo its maiden missile test-firing this month. The test will in all likelihood involve the 700 kilometre range K-15 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) or the 3,500 kilometre K-4. If successful, India will finally be able to complete its nuclear triad, giving the country’s strategic planners multiple options if it comes to a nuclear confrontation. A nuclear triad refers to the three components of atomic weapons delivery: strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and SLBMs. Of the three elements of the triad, the SLBMs are considered the most importa

Russian S-400 Triumf Air defence missile ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Соколрус) Source- Russia & India Report On the eve of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s first visit to Israel, one of India’s leading weapons suppliers, India is planning to buy the new-generation Russian S-400 ‘Triumf’ air defence missile systems, which can destroy incoming hostile aircraft, stealth fighters, missiles and drones at ranges of up to 400-km, Indian media reports in the ‘Times of India’ and the ‘Economic Times’ said on Sunday. Sources told the Times of India that the defence acquisitions council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, will "soon" take up the proposal moved by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to purchase around a dozen S-400 long-range systems from Russia. "The project is at an initial stage at present. But it will be a government-to-government contract when it is finalized, with the S-400 systems being inducted over several years,&qu

BMP3 of The Russian Army ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Vovan) Source- Russia & India Report / Itar Tass Russia and India are considering co-development of a new generation infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) at an Indian enterprise, Albert Bakov, first vice president and co-owner of the Tractor Plants Concern, told TASS on Wednesday. "There are plans of joint production of a new combat vehicle implying development and manufacture at their plant of a Russo-Indian infantry fighting vehicle. This is quite realistic, but no final decision on this has been made so far," Bakov said. "Our countries already have experience of joint work, for instance, the fifth generation fighter project," Bakov added. He said that there are a few more options of cooperating with India. "The Indians would like to launch the production of some vehicles in their country. At issue is the modernization of equipment in service with their armed forces as w

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Зимин Василий Source- Russia & India Report The Russian government is providing a major boost to the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ programme by choosing Reliance Defence & Aerospace (RDA) for a joint venture enterprise to build 197 units of the Kamov 226T helicopters in India.  According to media reports in the ‘Times of India’ and ‘Business Today’ on Friday (August 28) quoting informed sources, RDA has been chosen for the project to manufacture 197 helicopters for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force. According to the Times of India, under the agreement signed between Reliance Helicopters, Russian Helicopters and RosoboronExport, the official agency for defence exports of the Russian defence ministry, Reliance Helicopters will be the lead integrator for a licensed production arrangement with transfer of technology from Russia. According to the newspaper’s sources, the Reliance Group will have a majority 51% sta