Ukraine keen to be part of Defence Corridors

Ukraine is keen to be a part of the two Defence Corridors proposed by the Defence Ministry, and the country has also had discussions with HAL and BEL for manufacturing defence equipment in India, a top official of Ukrainian defence industrial group Ukroboronprom said.

Speaking to The Hindu at the Defence Expo 2018, Ukroboronprom director-general Pavlo Bukin said they had held discussions with Indian officials for a joint cooperation programme and modernisation of India’s military equipment.

“We also discussed about bringing new battle tanks, upgrading the Antonov aircraft, and joint production of the new Antonov 178 in India. Also, cooperation in the Navy was discussed, including cooperation for development and modernisations of dockyards in India,” Mr. Bukin said.

Mr. Bukin added that Ukraine would be able to substitute some of the Russian equipment that the Indian forces use at a cheaper price.

On the Offset clause specified by the Indian government, Mr. Bukin said they had discussed with HAL and BEL for manufacture of products in India. He said that in the last decade, Ukraine defence exports to India was around $2 billion.

Mr. Bukin further said that they were interested in the Defence Corridor proposal. “It is very attractive for us. Some tax vacations will be proposed. For the moment, we did not see all the details. It is attractive for any foreign company, we will use this opportunity for sure,” he said.

Earlier, Oleg Gladkovskyi, chairman, Interagency Commission for Military Technology Cooperation, said the delegation had met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the chiefs of the three forces. “We discussed what we would like to do, with our Indian colleagues,” he said.