Army chief General Dhiraj Seth to visit Russia in a bid to strengthen defence cooperation

General Dhiraj Seth is on an official visit to Russia, the visit is expected to improve ties between the armies of the two countries. (image credit: Indian Army)

Army chief General Dhiraj Seth arrived in Russia on Wednesday for a three-day official visit running until September 18, the first by a serving Indian Army chief to the country since General Bipin Rawat's trip back in October 2018.

During the visit, Gen Seth is expected to receive a ceremonial Guard of Honour in Moscow and pay tribute at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, before holding talks with Colonel General Andrei Mordvichev, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Land Forces, on professional military cooperation and training.

This is General Seth had earlier visited Nepal last month, a country where the Indian army chief is given the honorary rank of General in its own army.Gen Seth will also visit the National Defence Control Centre and meet senior Russian Ministry of Defence officials, including Deputy Minister Vasily Osmakov, who oversees defence industry and procurement, discussions expected to touch on contemporary military developments and avenues for deeper cooperation between the armies of the two countries. From Moscow, General Seth is scheduled to visit the Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy located in Saint Petersburg.

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One of the central issues on the table is spare parts and sustainment support for Russian-origin equipment in service across the Indian Army, from assault rifles to tanks and air defence systems, with almost the entire Armoured Corps and Mechanised Infantry still dependent on Russian origin platforms even as India seeks to largely indigenise its military equipment. Russia has also offered newer systems, such as the Pantsir-S1M air defence system and the latest variant of the BMP-3, alongside proposals for India's Future Ready Combat Vehicle programme meant to eventually replace the T-72 and T-90 tank fleets.

India has also co-developed the Brahmos missile with the Russians. Russia has also been pitching the Su-57 fifth generation fighter and the S-500 air defence system to India.The visit lands amid a much broader web of ongoing engagement. The relationship has evolved from a buyer-seller arrangement into joint production, with the T-90 and Su-30 MKI already built in India, and INS Tamal, a stealth frigate, commissioned at Kaliningrad this July. Institutional talks continued through Working Group meetings in New Delhi and Moscow in October, while military exercises stayed active too, of INDRA in Bikaner, Indian participation in Russia's Zapad-2025 drills, a separate naval INDRA exercise across Chennai and the Bay of Bengal, and an air exercise in Thanjavur in December, underscoring how layered this defence relationship remains even as India recalibrates its broader strategic alignments.