NEW DELHI: India and Russia on Thursday agreed to further enhance their expansive defence partnership, including through collaboration in niche military technologies and stronger defence-industrial cooperation, which is likely to see Moscow continuing as New Delhi’s leading arms supplier for the foreseeable future, reports Rajat Pandit. Ahead of the Modi-Putin summit, defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov stressed ties were based on “a deep sense of trust, common principles and mutual respect” while inking a protocol on “ongoing and prospective areas” of defence cooperation. The 22nd inter-governmental commission on military and military-technical cooperation, co-chaired by the ministers, underlined India’s intent to retain its strategic autonomy de

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