Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth is on a three-day visit to Russia, from September 16 to 18, holding discussions with senior Russian officials on sustaining India’s Russian-origin military equipment and exploring potential new defence platforms and cooperation.
During the visit, Gen Seth is meeting Vasily Sergeyevich Osmakov, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Defence overseeing defence industry and procurement, as well as his Russian counterpart, Colonel General Andrei Mordvichev. The visit marks the first trip to Russia by a serving Indian Army chief in nearly eight years, since General Bipin Rawat’s visit in October 2018.
A central focus of the talks is the availability of spare parts and supplies for Russian-origin equipment, which forms the backbone of the Indian Army’s tank and armoured vehicle fleet, including the T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks and the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle. The issue also feeds into several ongoing Indian upgrade programmes aimed at extending the service life of existing Russian hardware, including the T-90 Bhishma tanks. According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute data, Russia accounted for 40% of India’s arms imports between 2021 and 2025, making it the country’s largest defence supplier over that period.
Beyond sustainment of existing systems, Russia is reportedly pushing several new offers as part of the talks. These include the Pantsir-S1M, a short-range mobile air defence system that could feature in India’s Carrier Air Defence Tracked requirement, under which the Army plans to acquire at least 90 systems with a minimum of 50% indigenous content. Moscow is also offering an updated variant of the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle, after India had earlier rejected an initial version of the platform over design and capability concerns.
Discussions are also expected to touch on India’s Future Ready Combat Vehicle programme, under which the Army is seeking a next-generation main battle tank to eventually replace its ageing T-72 and T-90 fleets. Russia is reportedly considering offering its advanced T-14 Armata platform, or alternatively proposing a joint development and manufacturing arrangement tailored to India’s requirements, a model similar to the one used for the BrahMos missile programme. It remains unclear at this stage whether any of the platforms under discussion, including the Pantsir-S1M and BMP-3, would ultimately be manufactured in India under the government’s Make in India framework, which requires a minimum threshold of indigenous content for new defence acquisitions.
