Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on a 3-day Visit to Russia

Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India (GoI) was on an official 3-day visit to the Russian Federation from December 08 to December 10, 2024.

• His visit came ahead of the Russian President Vladmir Putin’s visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi in early 2025.
• During his visit, he paid tribute to the Soviet soldiers killed during the Second World War at ‘The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’ in Moscow, Russia.

Key Highlights of Union Defence Minister’s visit to Russia:

INS Tushil, Multi-role Stealth Frigate Commissioned into IN in Russia

On December 09 2024, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Tushil (F70), the latest multi-role stealth guided missile frigate was formally commissioned into the Indian Navy (IN) in the presence of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia.

About INS Tushil:

i.It is an upgraded Krivak III class frigate of Project 1135.6. At present, 6 vessels of this class are in service with IN:

• 3 Talwar Class ships, built at Baltiysky shipyard, St. Petersburg (Russia).
• 3 Teg Class ships, built at Yantar shipyard, Kaliningrad (Russia).

Note: The word ‘Tushil’ means ‘the protector shield’ and its crest represents the ‘Abhedya Kavacham’ (impenetrable shield).

ii.It is designed  for blue water operations across the various ranges of naval warfare in all 4 dimensions i.e. air, surface, underwater and electromagnetic.

iii.It is equipped with a range of modern weapons, including the India-Russia jointly developed Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles ; vertically launched Shtil surface-to-air missiles with enhanced ranges, among others.

iv.The indigenous content of the INS Tushil has been increased to 26% and number of made-in-India systems have been doubled to 33 due to the collaboration of Indian naval specialists and Severnoye Design Bureau, a Russian ship designing company.

• This involved contribution from various Indian firms including: Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL); Brahmos Aerospace Private Limited, a joint-venture of India and Russia; and Nova Integrated Systems, a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL); and many more.

v.It is 125 metre (m) long and weighs 3,900 tonne and is capable of achieving speeds of over 30 knots.

Points to Note:

i.INS Tushil,is the 1st of the two upgraded additional follow-on-ships, the agreement was signed in October 2016  between JSC Rosoboronexport (Russia) , IN  and the Government of India (GoI).

ii.INS Tushil is developed as part of the USD 2.5 billion deal signed between GoI and Russia in October 2018.

• As per the agreement, 4 upgraded Krivak-III class stealth frigates will be developed for IN, of which two are being constructed at Yantar Shipyard (Russia) and the remaining two will be constructed at the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) with transfer of technology at an overall cost of nearly Rs 13,000 crore.
• The 2nd Russia-made frigate ‘INS Tamal’ is expected to be delivered to IN in February 2025.

Defence Minister and his Russian Counterpart Co-Chair 21st Session of IRIGC-M&MTC in Moscow

On December 10 2024, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, MoD, India and Andrey Belousov, Minister of Defence, Russia co-chaired the 21st session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) held in Moscow, the capital city of Russia.

Key Points:

i.The Russian Defence Minister highlighted that the operationalisation of Military Technical Cooperation Agreement for 2021-31 will give necessary boost to GoI’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

• He also accepted the invitation of Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to visit India to co-chair the 22nd session of IRIGC-M&MTC in 2025.

ii.At the end of the session, Defence Ministers of both countries signed the protocol of the 21st IRIGC-M&MTC meeting highlighting the ongoing and prospective areas of cooperation.

About Ministry of Defence (MoD):

Union Minister- Rajnath Singh(Constituency- Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (UP))
Minister of State (MoS)– Sanjay Seth(Constituency- Ranchi, Jharkhand)

About Russia:
President– Vladimir Putin
Capital- Moscow
Currency- Russian Ruble (RUB)