Military-technical cooperation with Russia will play an important role in modernizing and re-equipping the Indian armed forces, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrey Rudenko, said in an interview with TASS.

"In general, India is our time-tested, reliable partner, we sincerely value our friendship and seek to exclusively strengthen it in the future. Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation has a long history, it is based on deep mutual trust and is not subject to foreign policy considerations. The Indian leadership views it as an important factor in ensuring the required level of combat readiness of the national armed forces, solving the problems of their modernization and re-equipment," he said.

Answering a question about the supply of Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to India, the deputy minister stressed that Moscow "strictly fulfills its contractual obligations."

"All issues that arise are resolved in close cooperation with Indian customers. Bilateral cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi in this area, including joint production of modern weapons, is developing in the interests of maintaining security and stability in the region and the world as a whole. It has never been directed against other states," the Russian Deputy Foreign Ministry noted.