NEW DELHI, Dec 1: Russia will not sell any arms to Pakistan if India honoured Moscow's interests in mutual defence cooperation, Press Trust of India said on Wednesday quoting a Russian official in Moscow.
"If India will not fully honour our interests, then there is no need to attach strings, conditions and demands from Russia not to trade (in arms) with Pakistan," an unnamed defence ministry source was quoted as saying by the state-run RIA Novosti agency ahead of Russian President Putin's India visit beginning on Friday.
Pointing that currently at the request of India, Moscow is not co-operating with Islamabad in defence sector, the unnamed official said that in case India does not keep in view Russia's interests, the military ties with Pakistan can be resumed.
So far Russia has supplied Mi-17 dual-purpose helicopters to Pakistan, PTI said. The news agency quoted Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying in Moscow on Tuesday that defence ties with India could come to a halt if India sought to mix its technologies with proposed purchases from the United States.
Russia, which was India's largest arms supplier, mostly on generous credit, now wants the Rupee-Rouble issue to be resolved in a mutually beneficial manner and the pending Rupees worth three billion dollars re-invested on concrete projects either on Indian soil or in Russia. Moscow is keen that India extend its support to Russia joining the WTO. A document in this regard may be signed during Mr Putin's three-day visit.
