(MENAFN) Russia’s lower legislative chamber, the State Duma, has approved a military cooperation agreement with India just days before President Vladimir Putin’s scheduled visit to the country.

The agreement was endorsed during a plenary session of the State Duma on Tuesday.
The treaty, designed to facilitate joint armed forces exercises, rescue operations, and humanitarian initiatives, will enable Russia and India to legally station troops and equipment on each other’s territory.

President Putin is set to make his tenth visit to India on December 4-5. This will be his first trip to the South Asian nation since 2021, during which he is anticipated to engage in discussions on a variety of bilateral matters with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Defense collaboration between the two countries is expected to feature prominently during the visit. India and Russia have maintained a defense partnership dating back to the early 1960s.

India has also encouraged defense companies from allied nations, including Russia, to collaborate with local arms manufacturers, supporting Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

“This visit is of great importance, providing an opportunity to comprehensively discuss the extensive agenda of Russian-Indian relations of a special privileged strategic partnership in political, trade-economic, scientific-technological, and cultural-humanitarian fields, as well as to consider current international and regional issues,” the Kremlin stated last week.

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