Indian Ambassador to Russia Venkatesh Varma on Monday said that India hopes to ink a deal for manufacturing Russia's Kamov Ka-226 helicopters in the country next year.
"There are still some technical discussions regarding indigenisation of production in India of the Kamov 226 helicopters. We hope that these discussions will be successful soon and therefore we will then go to the next stage of the signing of the contract for the production of Kamov 226," Varma told Sputnik.
Earlier this month, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched Konkurs Missile Test Equipment and Konkurs Launcher Test Equipment, which have been indigenously designed and developed by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).
These products were earlier being imported from Russia.
Meanwhile, Varma told Sputnik that the defence industry cooperation will be one of the key areas of collaboration between India and Russia and it will be addressed at the upcoming India-Russia bilateral summit.
"[The Indian-Russian bilateral summit] will cover all issues -- political, economic, trade, energy. And, of course, defence cooperation will be one of the main pillars of cooperation," Varma told Sputnik.
"We expect some very major announcements, including Russian support for the Make in India program of Prime Minister Modi. Russia has extended very positive support, we are very grateful for that," he added.
Earlier today, the diplomat said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is likely to attend the events of the Shanghai Cooperation Orgsation (SCO).
Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to participate in the SCO meet.
( With inputs from ANI )
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