Russia-India Defence Conference in Moscow, April 17, 2015

ASSOCHAM and Sberbank jointly organized a Russia-India Defence Conference on April 17, 2015 in Moscow to discuss intensification of defence and economic cooperation between the two countries especially the possibilities of joint collaboration in defence manufacturing under ‘Make in India’ program.

A strong contingent of 28 representatives of Indian companies in defence sector participated in the event. More than 70 representatives of major Russian defence companies attended the conference.

Minister of State for Defence of India, Mr. Rao Inderjit Singh, in his inaugural address, highlighted the opportunities for India-Russia defence cooperation created by the recent policy reforms in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime for the defence sector in India. The Minister invited Russian manufacturers to partner with Indian public or private sector companies under the ‘Make in India’ program. The Minister’s inaugural address is annexed.

Deputy Chairman of Sberbank, Mr. S. N. Gorkov, conveyed the readiness of Sberbank to develop financial products to support Russian companies in engaging with Indian partners for developing defence manufacturing base in India. The Deputy Head of FS MTC of Russia, Mr. M.V. Petukhov, stated that the conference will familiarize Russian companies with Indian government’s policy and help in shaping up definitive forms of mutual cooperation.

The Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation, H.E. Mr. P.S. Raghavan, assured the fullest support of the Embassy of India in the effort to establish closer contact between businesses of the two countries.

The business persons interacted actively, shared information and discussed various areas of defence cooperation with India like payments and settlements, defence procurement policy, FDI regime, offsets policy and practice, and incentives provided under the “Make in India” programmes.

Moscow,

April 17, 2015