Upgrade of Sukhoi jets figured in Rajnath Singh's talks with Russian counterpart

Upgrading India's Sukhoi-30MKI fighter fleet, production of air-to-air missiles and expeditious supply of two batches of S-400 missile systems figured prominently in Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's talks with his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov in the Chinese city of Qingdao.

The two defence ministers held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Thursday.

The Indian Air Force is operating around 260 Sukhoi 30-MKI jets and it is looking at upgrading the fleet under an ambitious plan.

The Russian-origin Sukhoi jets played a key role in Operation Sindoor last month.

Singh and Belousov held in-depth discussions on a range of subjects covering current geopolitical situations, cross-border terrorism and Indo-Russian defence cooperation, the defence ministry said on Friday.

The Russian defence minister highlighted the long-standing Indo-Russian relations and expressed solidarity with India on the horrendous and cowardly Pahalgam terrorist attack, it said.

"Supply of S-400 systems, Su-30 MKI upgrades, and procurement of critical military hardware in expeditious timeframes were some of the key takeaways of the meeting," the ministry said in a statement.

"It was one of the most important recent meetings between the leaders of the two nations, being held in the backdrop of Operation Sindoor and the consequent necessity of augmenting defence production, especially in critical items such as air defence, air-to-air missiles, modern capabilities, and upgrades of air platforms," it said.

In his talks with Belousov, Singh pressed for expediting the supply of two remaining units of S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems to India, it is learnt.

Russia has already supplied three units of the long-range missile systems to India under a USD 5.5 billion deal.

The missile systems were used extensively by the Indian Air Force during the May 7-10 military conflict with Pakistan.

Singh also held separate bilateral talks with his counterparts from Belarus, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan on the margins of the SCO meet.

"In his interaction with the ministers, Raksha Mantri highlighted the importance of continued engagement in defence cooperation and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in areas of technical collaboration," the defence ministry said.

He highlighted the rapid advances made by India in the field of defence production.

Singh also briefed his counterparts on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor that was aimed at dismantling the terrorist networks in Pakistan.