ENA Sectors 2024-04-11 15:57:55 <p><span style="font-size:14px"><strong>New Delhi, Apr 11 (KNN)</strong> India and the Czech Republic are engaged in discussions to enhance their defence cooperation, capitalising on the shared experience of utilising Soviet and Russian-made defence platforms between the two nations.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The talks revolve around the possibility of Czech defence firms providing maintenance services, spare parts, and equipment to the Indian Army and Air Force.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Eliska Zigova, the Czech Republic's Ambassador to India, revealed that the discussions centre on leveraging the Czech Republic's extensive knowledge about Soviet weaponry, stemming from the erstwhile Czechoslovakia's cooperation with the Soviet Union's defence industry.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Czech companies have proposed to collaborate with India in maintaining spare parts and modernising common defence platforms.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The Czech government is keen to facilitate discussions between its intergovernmental defence cooperation agency and India's defence ministry to facilitate such cooperation.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">The potential for this partnership has increased since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, which has posed challenges for Russia's defence industry, traditionally India's primary supplier.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Consequently, India has been diversifying its sources for defence equipment to reduce its dependence on Russia.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">Both India and the Czech Republic have expressed mutual interest in enhancing security ties, with a commitment to encouraging cooperation in areas such as research and development, training, and innovative production solutions involving stakeholders from both countries.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px">During the India-Czechia Strategic Partnership on Innovation in January 2023, the two nations underlined the importance of innovations in defence and expressed satisfaction with existing connections among their entities in these areas.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:14px"><em><strong>(KNN Bureau)</strong></em></span></p> 37385 https://knnindia.co.in/news/newsdetails/sectors/india-czech-republic-in-talks-to-forge-defence-partnership 2024-04-11 15:57:55 knnindia.co.in