New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India on December 4 and 5, and ahead of the visit, Russia’s lower house of Parliament, State Duma, ratified a key military pact on Tuesday.
The Indian and Russian governments signed the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistic Support (RELOS) on February 18, and now the agreement was sent to the State Duma last week for ratification by the Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin.
“Our relations with India are strategic and comprehensive, and we value them. We understand that today’s ratification of the agreement is another step toward reciprocity and, of course, the development of our relations,” Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin stated at the plenary session of the house.
Under the RELOS agreement, it will ensure the procedure for sending military formations, warships, and military aircraft from India to Russia and vice versa.
Not only was the dispatch of troops and equipment included in the RELOS agreement, but the logistics will also be regulated under the accord.
The agreement will be used under established procedures, like during joint exercises, humanitarian aid, training, and disaster relief efforts after natural and human-made disasters, and several other cases that both countries agreed upon.
The Russian Cabinet of Ministers believed that the RELOS agreement would strengthen the military cooperation between India and Russia.