MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/. Russia and India have signed a contract on the delivery of over 600,000 7.62mm AK-203 assault rifles that will be produced on India’s soil to the republic’s Defense Ministry, the Kalashnikov firearms manufacturer told TASS on Monday.

"Today, on December 6, a contract was signed as part of a meeting of the defense ministers of Russia and India on the delivery of over 600,000 AK-203 assault rifles produced in India to the Defense Ministry of India," the Kalashnikov press office informed.

Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL) is opening a new page in Russian-Indian military-technical cooperation, Kalashnikov CEO Vladimir Lepin said.

"Russian and Indian specialists have carried out large-scale preparatory work over three years to optimize the project’s price and technological parameters. Now that the contract has been signed, we are ready to start the production of advanced AK-203s in the town of Korwa in the coming months," the Kalashnikov press office quoted the chief executive as saying.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans in early March 2019 to set up a joint Indo-Russian venture for the production of Kalashnikov assault rifles in the country. The joint venture IRRPL for the manufacture of AK-203 assault rifles has been established at a production facility in the town of Korwa of the Amethi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Therefore, India can become the first foreign country to produce Kalashnikov assault rifles of the latest 200th series.