On Monday, India and Russia signed a Rs 51 billion contract for the joint manufacturing of over 500,000 AK-203 assault rifles at a factory in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi region. A bilateral meeting between Indian Defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian colleague Sergey Shoigu sealed the agreement. According to authorities, the two nations also extended their military-technical cooperation for years 2021-31.
Rajnath Singh tweeted on Monday, “India deeply appreciates Russia’s strong support for India. We hope that our cooperation will bring peace, prosperity and stability to the entire region. Glad that a number of agreements/contracts/protocols were signed pertaining to small arms and military cooperation.” The news came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin set to meet for their annual meeting this evening. The centre has given its approval for a gun manufacturing factory in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, to produce over five lakh high powered AK-203 rifles. The contemporary AK-203 will be manufactured in collaboration with Russia, which produce the original AK-47.
