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Kalashnikov rifles will begin to be manufactured in India soon — Russian ambassador

The creation of a joint Indian-Russian venture for the production of Kalashnikov rifles was declared in March 2019

NEW DELHI, March 18. /TASS/. A joint venture in India’s Korwa will launch the production of Kalashnikov rifles AK-203 in the near future, Russia’s ambassador in New Delhi, Denis Alipov, told Russian media on Friday.

"We hope that the AK-203 will begin to be manufactured in the near future. At the moment, purely technical final touches are being put to the contract," Alipov said.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the creation of a joint Indian-Russian venture for the production of Kalashnikov rifles in March 2019. The joint venture Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited for making the AK-203 model was created near the city of Korwa, Uttar-Pradesh. The Indian armed forces is to be supplied with 670,000 AK-203 rifles, including 600,000 to be made at the IRRPL plant. India is to become the first country to begin the production of the AK-203 outside Russia.

Import substitution does not hinder ties

The Russian ambassador said that New Delhi’s Make in India and Self-Reliant India campaigns, expected to maximize manufacturing, including weapons manufacturing in India’s national territory by no means hinder Russian-Indian ties in the defense field.

"India’s import substitution and self-reliance programs were launched in India’s military-industrial complex a long time ago. Such projects as the manufacturing of Kalashnikov rifles and Ka-226 helicopters in India should be regarded precisely in the context of these programs, because they envisage creation of joint ventures and transfer of technologies.

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