NEW DELHI - Russia snubbed India as it postponed Russian Defence
Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's visit to New Delhi as the dates are
clashing with Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani's visit to
Moscow starting from October 5. Apparently, Moscow has conveyed to New
Delhi that the meeting of annual India-Russia Inter-Governmental
Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC), which was to
be held on Thursday, has been deferred as the Russian Defence Minister
was required to stay in the country for his urgent participation in a
programme of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reported Indian Express.
Serdyukov's India visit was scheduled to begin on October 4.At a time
when New Delhi is looking beyond Russia for military hardware, Moscow is
considering Islamabad as an alternative to Indian defence market,
sources said. The high-level dialogues between Russia and Pakistan,
which began with the visit of former President and Chief of Army Staff
General Parvez Musharraf to Russia in 2003, were at an increased
frequency in recent times.Russian Foreign Minister is presently on a
state visit to Islamabad. In 2011, Pakistan President Zardari had
visited Russia.During his visit to Moscow, General Kayani is expected to
raise three critical issues related to defence trade. The Pakistan Army
Chief will be pushing for Kremlin's approval for setting up an engine
overhaul facility in the country to manufacture engines to power the
Chinese-built JF-17 'Thunder' multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) in
Pakistan Air Force, overhaul workshop for the 12 aerial refuelling pods
in service with the four Russian-built Il-78 multi-role transport tanker
and export of turbofans required for powering the FC-20 medium
multi-role combat aircraft, acquiring from China.Russia has also shown
interest in selling newly-built Mi-17 helicopters and rockets to the
Pakistan Army.The Indo-Russian bilateral ties had taken a beating when
the Indian Air Force chose French Rafale over Russian MiG-35 and four
others for its $10.2-billion Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA)
deal.
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