Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Indo-Russian deal on air defence system

India and Russia have reached an agreement on the much-expected Russian sale of six 9K81 S-300V mobile air defence systems to India for deployment at front and army level. The deal, involving billions of dollars, was clinched by the visiting high-level defence delegation, led by Defence Secretary Ajit Kumar after several rounds of ``meticulous negotiations'' with the Russians, a source sad.

An announcement to this effect is expected to be made in the near future in New Delhi after the deal is finally approved by the Cabinet, the source said.

The source refused to give details about the deal, which he called the ``contract of the century,'' as far as the Indian security was concerned in view of the ``new geo-political situation'' in the region following the Pokharan and the Pakistani tests.

Before reaching the agreement on the deal, the sides had to overcome the last sticking point over the price of the missile systems. The deal is tobe carried out under the existing longterm Indo-Russian defence cooperation programme till 2000, which was extended last year by 10 years. The Indian defence delegation is returning to New Delhi on Sunday, following its week-long talks on long-term sophisticated military-technical cooperation in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Indian defence officials have been conducting talks with their Russian counterparts on the possible acquirement of the formidable S-300V Anti-Tactical Ballistic Missile (ATBM) systems for over three years. Scientists from the DRDO have made several trips to Russia in the past years, with the purpose of studying the systems.

A major breakthrough could be achieved only last year during the visit of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, when President Boris Yeltsin agreed, in principle, to supply the S-300Vs to India.

India had wanted to induct the Russian missile systems to counter the Pakistan threat posed by its deployment of dozens of nuclear capable M-11missiles acquired from China. Originally, the Russian missile defence systems were planned for deployment in 1999.

However, the recent test-firing of the long-range Ghauri missile by Islamabad forced India to speed up the negotiations with Russians, so that a reliable defence system could be in place as soon as possible, the source said.

According to the Indian plan, the Russian S-300V missile systems (NATO's variant SA-12 Giant) will be merged into the indigenously developed ``Rajendra'' radar and the ``Akash'' long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM).

During his stay in Moscow, Ajit Kumar held talks with Russian defence minister Yegor Sergeyev, first deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin and economics minister Yakov Urinson, currently looking after the reorganisation of the system of Russia's military-technical cooperation with foreign countries.

Defence observers attached great importance to Kumar's two rounds of talks with First Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Mikhailov. Both Kumar and Mikhailov are the co-chairmen of the jointworking group on defence cooperation.

However, the Indian embassy denied that the Indian defence team was hee for its joint working group meeting.

An informed source termed the bilateal defence talks as "very constructive," and "productive" in a "cordial atmosphere."