Official website of the President of Russia

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The message reads, in part:

“Military technical cooperation has traditionally been a key area of Russia and India’s special and privileged strategic partnership.

We have been delivering reliable and high-quality weaponry and equipment to our Indian friends for over seventy years. Around 170 military and production facilities have been launched in India with the help of our country.

This new joint venture will produce world-famous Kalashnikov assault rifles of the cutting-edge 200-series and will gradually shift to totally domestic production.

Thus India’s military industrial complex will be able to independently supply the country’s security agencies with this type of rifle armaments while implementing advanced Russian technologies.

Let us recall that I and my friend Mr Modi agreed on launching the Kalashnikov production plant during my official visit to India last October.

A respective intergovernmental agreement was promptly drafted and inked. In this connection I would like to sincerely thank those Russian and Indian specialists who helped to implement this project so quickly.

I am confident that launching this enterprise will contribute to enhancing India’s defence potential, the further advancement of the research and industrial foundation of the country’s economy, will allow for the creation of new qualified jobs, give impetus to vocational education and training of personnel, while the plant itself will become yet another symbol of friendship and fruitful cooperation between our countries.”