India’s Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh discussed the matter with Armenian Minister of High-Technology Industry Davit Tadevosian during a visit to Yerevan on Monday. Their talks were followed by the signing of an Indian-Armenian memorandum of understanding on “cooperation on research, development, innovation and joint production in the field of defense Industry.”
Tadevosian’s ministry, which comprises the Armenian government’s Defense Industry Committee, said the document calls for “joint research, design and innovation programs,” the development of “defense technology startups and incubators” as well as “exchange of skills and experience of specialists in the field.”
“The parties agreed on further steps to ensure the practical implementation of the agreements reached,” it added in a statement.
“This agreement seeks to harness the untapped potential in defense technology and further develop our cooperation through R & D (research and development), joint collaborations, innovation and start-ups,” Singh told News.am in an interview published on Tuesday.
“I visited a few Armenian defense companies, and there is lot of potential to develop such mutually beneficial cooperation,” he said without naming those companies.
Singh met with Armenia’s Defense Minister Suren Papikian and top army general, Eduard Asrian, earlier on Monday. The Indian Defense Ministry said the two sides reaffirmed “their shared commitment to deepening and elevating the India-Armenia defense partnership.”
India became one of Armenia’s leading arms suppliers following the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh war during which its arch-foe Pakistan strongly supported Azerbaijan. Armenia has purchased Indian surface-to-air missiles, multiple-launch rocket systems, howitzers and anti-drone equipment worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We are discussing several new proposals, including AMC (Annual Maintenance Contract) contracts, a set of equipment in accordance with the evolving security landscape, and this is an ongoing process,” Singh said when asked whether more Indian-Armenian defense contracts could be signed soon.
In his words, New Delhi views its military ties with Yerevan “not merely as a buyer-seller relationship but as a long-term collaboration with emphasis on joint production and R&D.”