January 18, 2003	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 14, 1423

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NEW DELHI, Jan 17: India and Russia agreed on Friday to jointly develop next generation fighter jets and set up defence projects under a “landmark” protocol signed by the two countries but appeared to have made no progress on the sale of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to New Delhi, the Press Trust of India said.

“The protocol, a landmark document in our relations, covers all the areas of our defence ties,” Defence Minister George Fernandes said after an hour-long meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov in Moscow.

PTI said the protocol, signed after the two-day meeting of Indo-Russian Inter-governmental Commission (IRIGC) on Military-Technical Cooperation, provides for joint development of a fifth generation fighter for the air forces of the two countries.

It also envisages setting up several hi-tech joint ventures similar to the BrahMos cruise missile, development and production of futuristic weapons and weapon platforms, Fernandes said.

“He, however, did not say whether the two sides have made a breakthrough with regard to the sale of Admiral Gorshkov to India,” PTI said.

“We have succeeded in ironing out and sorting out all the outstanding problems,” Fernandes said.

The Russian defence minister said: “We have extensive and serious plans for the closest interaction between our two defence establishments and the armed forces based on new quality and trust.”

“In response to a question, Ivanov dismissed concerns that military cooperation between the two countries would destabilise the balance of forces in Asia,” PTI reported.

“I do not see any danger to the balance of forces,” he said, adding: “India is the largest democracy of the world, and we have been linked by decades of close friendship. Our strategic partnership is not an empty notion.”—Jay Enn