Defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, during his 2-day visit to Armenia, has discussed defence and military technical cooperation, with emphasis on capacity building, training, military technical cooperation and defence research and development (R&D) with the Armenian leadership.The two sides also exchanged the terms of reference for institutionalising joint services staff talks between the Indian and Armenian Armed Forces. During the visit, he held bilateral meetings with deputy defence minister of Armenia, Karen Brutyan, and first deputy defence minister and Chief of General Staff of Armenia, Edward Asryan, a defence ministry’s release said on Wednesday.The defence secretary called on Davit Tradevosyan, minister of Hi-tech Industry of Armenia, and exchanged views on proposals relating to defence research and development.Coinciding with the visit, a memorandum of understanding between the two defence ministries to expand cooperation in the fields of joint collaboration, innovation and research was concluded and signed.Singh also called on Suren Papikyan, defence minister of Armenia. During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen India-Armenia defence cooperation and discussed new avenues for enhancing cooperation in military technical cooperation.As part of the visit, the defence secretary visited the Armenian Military Academy named after Vazgen Sargasyan and interacted with the head and faculty members of the academy. During his visit to the IT Lab at the academy, established with Indian assistance, he underlined the vital role of capacity building and training as an important pillar of India-Armenia defence cooperation.The defence secretary also had a fruitful meeting with deputy foreign minister of Armenia, Mnatsakan Safaryan, in Yerevan on expanding defence partnership between India and Armenia. As Armenia seeks to diversify its defence procurement, India has emerged as a major partner in military technical cooperation. Both countries share similar views on multilateralism and strategic autonomy.The visit demonstrated the increasing congruence of views between India and Armenia on bilateral, regional and global issues, besides reaffirming the firm commitment of both sides to take the already robust bilateral defence partnership to the next level.Armenia has emerged as India’s top defence export customer, committing nearly $2 billion to procure advanced indigenous military hardware amid its ongoing modernisation and security diversification efforts. Armenia became the first international buyer of Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers and the country has also purchased other Indian-made systems like Akash air defence systems, Swathi weapon-locating radars, artillery and howitzers, and missiles.
