Defence Ministry to pitch AK-203 deal at High level meet ahead of Vladimir Putin's visit

The Ministry of Defence is all set to hold a high-level meeting on Tuesday, November 23 to address the finalisation of the deal with Russia to manufacture a total of 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi. Talk on the big-budget deal worth over Rs 5,000 crore comes in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin's scheduled visit to India on December 5. 

The AK-203 assault rifle deal, which may be signed during the Russian President's visit, would be taken up for discussion in the special defence acquisition council meeting to be held on Tuesday, as per Defence Ministry sources.

"The deal which has been agreed upon between the two sides a few years ago and now the last major issue would be resolving the issues on the transfer of technology," sources told ANI.

Out of the 7.5 lakh rifles to be acquired by the Indian Army, the initial 7,00,000 will include Russia-made components and the following will be produced in India with the transfer of technology. The rifles will be delivered to the army 32 months after the production process begins.

The Indian Air Force had in August this year, under emergency provisions to replace its existing inventory of INSAS rifles, had signed a deal to acquire 70,000 AK-103 assault rifles from Russia.

In recent times, especially following the Chinese aggression across sections of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India's defence forces have accelerated their modernisation of basic weapon systems. Troops on the front have already been provided with 1.5 lakh American Sig Sauers along with 16,000 Negev Machine Guns.

Venture to fulfil Indian Security agencies requirement for small arms: Vladimir Putin  

A bilateral inter-governmental agreement signed in 2019 resolved that a total of 7.5 lakh Russia-designed 7.62 mm AK-203 rifles will be manufactured by Indo-Russian Private Limited (IRPL) joint venture at Korwa in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi. The IRPL was earlier operated by the state-owned Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) before the enterprise was dissolved in September. It is now run by two state-owned firms, Advanced Weapons, and Equipment India Limited and Munition India Limited, both of which emerged following OFB's dissolution.

"The new joint venture between India and Russia to manufacture the Kalashnikov assault rifles' 200 series will be able to fulfil Indian security agencies' requirement for small arms," Russian President Vladmir Putin had said in a message in March 2019.

The Indian firms collectively hold a 50.5% stake in IRPL, with Kalashnikov owing a 42% share and Russian defence export agency Rosoboronexport owning the remaining 7.5%.

President Putin's 2nd foreign visit post-pandemic 

Marking his second foreign visit post-pandemic, Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India on December 5. It was in 2018 that Putin had last visited India for the annual summit. He was supposed to visit India again in 2020, however, owing to the COVID pandemic, his visit was cancelled. The Russian President's regular dialogues with India reflect the significance of the strategic partnership between the two nations. Significantly, Vladimir Putin had travelled only to Geneva for the landmark summit with United States President Joe Biden prior to his scheduled visit to India.

(Image: AP/PTI/ANI)