Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin

NEW DELHI - New Delhi is interested in the shift to the lifecycle contracts in defense industry cooperation with Moscow, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Saturday, adding that would reflect a new quality of relations between the two countries.

"With new Indian defense minister we have discussed the issues related to the shift of military and industry conferences, that we have already held this year, to the process of constant harmonization of the notes that are usually being identified during the use of arms and military equipment," Rogozin said.

"The Indian party is extremely interested and it is a brand new quality of our relations with India," Rogozin stressed.

Meanwhile, the military-technical cooperation between Russia and India has a long history and dates back to the 1960s. The USSR built warships for the friendly state, supplied aircraft and small arms, and helped with ammunition. For instance, in late October, the largest-ever Indian Army contingent reached Russia for its first-ever tri-service exercise.

On December 23, Dmitriy Rogozin was on a one-day visit to New Delhi as a main representative of the Russian delegation at the meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental Commission. At the meeting the major topics on trade-economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation issues were touched upon. He has met with the Indian Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and NSA to the Prime Minister Ajit Doval.