Ivanov to head India-Russia panel

Significant for defence sectors

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov has been appointed as head of the Russian part of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission. File photo

Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has been appointed to head the Russian part of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) for trade, economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation.

A decree signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin late on Tuesday said Mr. Ivanov was replacing the former Deputy Prime Minister, Sergei Sobyanin, who last month became the Mayor of Moscow.

Good news

Mr. Ivanov's appointment is good news for the defence establishments both in India and Russia.

As Russia's Defence Minister in 2001-2007, he co-chaired the IRIGC for military-technical cooperation and helped formulate Russia's arms export strategy, which calls for the supply of the most cutting-edge defence technologies to India, while exercising extreme discretion in selling weapons to China.

Mr. Ivanov is expected to travel to New Delhi later this month for a meeting of the IRIGC ahead of President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to India next month.