ST. PETERSBURG, the Russian Federation (BulgarianMilitary.com) – Yesterday, 26th November, an Indian military delegation lead by the Chief of the Naval Staff of the Navy Admiral Sunil Lanba has arrived in Russia for a four-day visitation. There, Admiral Sunil Lanba is scheduled to make a number of visits and to hold several meetings with the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Federation Navy Admiral Vladimir Korolev, the General VV Gerasimov, the Chief of General Staff and First Deputy Defence Minister of Russia and Mr. Dmitriy Shugaev, Director, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) of the Russian Federation, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.

The Indian visitation, which aims are to be found new ways for expanding the already close defence relations between the both countries, as well as to consolidate them, began with a meeting with Sunil Lanba’s Russian counterpart, Admiral Vladimir Korolev, held yesterday. During their talks hosted by Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, the collocutors discussed a number of topics for cooperation and collaboration in the naval field and noted the high level of mutual understanding between the fleets of the two states. On the background of the ongoing joint military exercise Indra 2018 between Indian and Russia, which active phase has started three days ago (24th November), the topics discussed, yesterday, by the both admirals covered and a number of issues related to its conduct.

Read more: A Joint Indo-Russian Military Exercise (Indra 2018) Is Coming

During his stay in Russia, Admiral Sunil Lanba will also visit the Nakhimov Naval School and the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation where he is scheduled to talk on the “Indian Navy’s Perspective on Maritime Security.” He will also lay a wreath at Piskarev Memorial Cemetery in memory of the victims of the Siege of Leningrad.

A special visit will be paid to the Admiralty Shipyard where the building of Lada-class diesel-electric submarines of project 677 is housed. The export version of the Lada-class submarine – the non-nuclear Amur-1650 – is Russia’s offer for the Indian Navy’s P75(I) project for the acquisition of six submarines of this type.

Read more: Russia May Conclude $1.5 billion Deal as Lowest Bidder in India’s VSHORAD Program

Previously, state media reported that Russia and India have started talks on joint efforts to develop and construct a nuclear submarine at an Indian shipyard and at a very cost effective rate. Their intention is to develop a prototype for less than $200 million, after which the Russian company transfer the technical know-how and related documents to the Indian shipyard. So far, Russia has leased India two nuclear-propelled, including the Chakra, which is currently in service.

The bilateral cooperation in defence and security between them has been on an upswing over the last few years, making Russia largest defence supplier in India. Their most recent concluded deal was reported last week and it concerns the supply of a Russian man-portable air defence missile system Igla-S for the Indian Army, under the VSHORAD missiles project. Earlier, once again neglecting the U.S. threat of sanctions, Russia and India have signed and the purchase of four Admiral Grigorovich-class guided-missile frigates for the Indian Navy.

Read more: Russia to Deliver Four Stealth Frigates to India Under a $950 million Contract

Their navies also collaborate in different areas including operational interactions and training, such as the bilateral Maritime Exercise INDRA NAVY, conducted since 2003 and INDRA Tri-Services Exercise since 2017.

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Sources: MoD of the Russian Federation, The Economic Times