NEW DELHI, Oct 20: India and Russia have agreed on concrete details on forging cooperation between them on military production for which there has been an agreement between the two in the several rounds of discussions which have gone on between the two countries.

This was agreed to in the talks which the visiting deputy prime minister Mr Ilya Klebanov had with the defence minister, Mr George Fernandes during his visit here which concluded last weekend. Apart from the itemised production lines on which the two agreed, Mr Klebanov indicated that Russia would lease to India four supersonic reconnaissance aircraft for which a separate contract valued at some 600 million dollars would be signed next month.

During his two day visit, Mr Klebanov had rather an extensive agenda before him which included apart from the defence production programme in his portfolio, the current war in Afghanistan besides the general world situation with particular reference to South Asia. There was also a discussion on the scheduled visit of prime minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to Russia next month beginning on November 4.

With Russia and India both facing problems of foreign-aided terrorists, Mr Klebanov and Mr Vajpayee had much in common in defining their respective approaches. The talks covered not only the sequence of events leading to the present situation but also on the future set up of the arrangements in Afghanistan. Speaking to newsmen, Mr Klebanov said that there was a “complete identity”of views between him and Mr Vajpayee.

The Russian stand on the Afghan developments is rather interesting. Initially, its attitude was somewhat lukewarm and Kremlin was inclined to be cynical of the American action. Now, however, it seems to have undergone a change. In his talks with newsmen, Mr Klebanov said that the battle in Afghanistan had been going on for some time now and both Russia and India had warned international opinion about it. It took the events of September 11 to finally awaken the world to it, he said.

Referring to the forthcoming visit of Mr Vajpayee to Russia, Mr Klebanov told newsmen that a number of agreements would be signed between India and Russia during the visit. These agreements cover enhanced cooperation between them in the nuclear, thermal and hydro power sectors as well as in oil and natural gas areas. Russia will also take part in the oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal. The technical aspects of economic cooperation will be finalised by an inter-governmental commission and a military commission.

Speaking on the talks which Mr Klebanov had with him, Mr Fernandes told newsmen that the two had decided that India and Russia would jointly produce an advanced multi-role combat aircraft and a troop carrier aeroplane. He further said that significantly the two countries had jointly developed and tested the “Bramos” cruise missile. This was a precursor to the production of two types of aircraft and Mr Fernandes added, “we did discuss some on-going projects including joint designing, development and production of multi-role aircraft.”

Mr Fernandes did not hesitate to speak about the tardy supplies of spares for the military hardware purchased from the Soviet Union. Specifically, he said “when the Kargil operations began, our forces were not adequately prepared because the forces did not have the equipment they had asked for. At that time, Russians gave us weapons some of them withdrawn from the armed forces which most countries do not do.” Mr Fernandes also told newsmen that he would bring this situation to the notice of Mr Klebanov.

Commenting on the acquisition of Tu-22 aircraft, the defence experts were of the opinion that though these would be used only by the navy for maritime reconnaissance, its basic design as such was as a bomber, and its variants could be used as a nuclear delivery platform, as well as a cruise missile delivery platform. Admitting that the navy badly needed an additional aircraft carrier, these observers noted that there were differences of opinion on the acquisition of the Admiral Gorkashov which had been under discussion between the two sides for several years now.

According to vice admiral Arun Prakash, commander in chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, a thorough examination had been carried out, including a technical evaluation which had indicated that it could be purchased after extensive refurbishing, since it had been charred by a fire in 1987. There were still some differences on how this refurbishing should be carried out and whether it would be more prudent to purchase a new carrier.