India, Russia agree to invest more in each other's economy, produce Russian military equipment in India

At a joint press conference, Jaishankar said: "Time-tested is a frequently used and clearly justified description of India-Russia relations. Though the world has changed in the last seven decades and there have been different governments at both ends, our ties, I am Sure Minister Lavrov would agree, have remained uniquely strong and steady."

"We are both cognisant of the multi-polar and rebalanced nature of international relations today. We both understand the importance of our relationship to global peace, security and stability. And, therefore, as Foreign Ministers, we work hard to deliver on that responsibility," he said.

The two leaders assesed "positively" the two-way economic cooperation and noted the new opportunities in the Russian Far East.

The negotiations between the two Special Strategic Partners focused on energy, space, transport and infrastructure projects, and plans to boost bilateral trade and to jointly produce modern weapons.

"We talked about longstanding partnership in nuclear, space and defence sectors. We assessed positively our economic cooperation, noting the new opportunities in Russian Far East," said the Indian Foreign Minister.

The two top diplomats also discussed connectivity through the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor and the North-South Transport Corridor, and cooperation in the space, nuclear and joint arms production.

"We spoke of connectivity, including the International North-South Transport Corridor and the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor. On my part, I briefed Minister Lavrov on recent developments in India that open up new opportunities for Russian businesses in various sectors," said Jaishankar.

Delegation-level talks were held between the two countries that covered preparations for President Vladimir Putin's visit to India for the delayed Russia-India summit this year.

Both leaders acknowledged this review of bilateral cooperation "was really encouraging".

"We note the appetite for greater investments in each other by both countries. Russian support for our Gaganyaan programme has progressed which we deeply appreciate. Our defence sector requirements in the past year were expeditiously addressed," said Jaishankar.

India-Russia ties are characterised by consistent ability to identify and update shared interests, he noted.

Following the ministerial meeting and delegation-level talks, Jaishankar said India-Russia ties are characterised by consistent ability to identify and update shared interests.

"We have discussed the prospects for defence cooperation, including the joint production of advanced weapons in India," added Lavrov. "We are the only country that actually provides India with advanced defence technologies. We are confident that efforts to boost Russian-Indian defence cooperation are in line with the national interests of both countries."

Jaishankar also shared India's viewpoint on the Indo-Pacific.

"As our Prime Minister pointed out at the Shangri-La Dialogue some years ago, contemporary challenges require countries to work together in new and different ways. India is strongly committed to ASEAN centrality and this is underlined by the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative that it has been advocating at the East-Asia summit."

"As we implement our Act East and beyond policy, Russia is a very important partner. Whether it is their Far East or whether it is the Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor," he added.

As another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the world, Lavrov said Russia is not ruling out the possibility to produce an Indian vaccine against the coronavirus on its territory.

"As for vaccines, we have really close contacts with our Indian friends... I do not rule out that further cooperation will include production of an [Indian] vaccine on the Russian territory, I think experts should discuss it and be guided by the maximum possible effectiveness of such cooperation," Lavrov said.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund has signed contracts with several Indian contracting agents for producing the Sputnik V vaccine in the total amount of 700 or 750 million doses. This becomes possible thanks to India's capacities.

The two sides also discussed regional security and political issues such as Afghanistan and Mayanmar.

"Larger backdrop of global political changes provided the context," Jaishankar said, adding that the agenda included Afghanistan, West Asia, the Gulf, Myanmar, ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific and UN Security Council issues.

"We exchanged opinions on key modern problems and acute regional problems, and realized that our approaches either coincide or are close. We discussed the peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, the Syrian crisis, the situation around the Iranian nuclear programme, and the situation in Myanmar," Lavrov said.

He said Russia hoped that the 2020 peace deal between the United States and the Taliban movement will be fully implemented.

"We hope that the agreements that were concluded between the United States and the Taliban will be implemented, because really, at the time, everyone talked about this, it created a chance for an agreement between all the warring parties. It will be regretful if they collapse," Lavrov said.

At the same time, Lavrov stressed that Russia respected India’s right to diversify its ties.