Armenian, Indian Army Chiefs Meet Again
Highlighting close military ties between the two nations, Armenia's top military general visited India on Tuesday just two months after receiving his Indian counterpart in Yerevan.
Lieutenant-General Eduard Asrian, the chief of the Armenian army's General Staff, held talks in New Delhi with India's Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and General Anil Chauhan, the chief of the Indian Defense Staff.
"Discussions focused on expanding military cooperation, including training, capability development and modernization," the Indian Defense Ministry said in a short statement on Singh's "productive" meeting with Asrian. "India reaffirmed its commitment to being a reliable partner and supporting Armenia with state-of-the-art defense equipment."
India's Integrated Defense Staff said, for its part, that Chauhan's separate talks with Asrian underlined "the steady advancement of Indian-Armenian defense relations."
"Both sides also explored avenues for joint ventures in the development of military hardware, reaffirming their shared commitment to a robust, future-oriented and mutually beneficial strategic partnership," it added in a post on X.
According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, the two generals reached "understandings on deepening cooperation in a number of professional areas." The ministry gave no details.
India has been one of Armenia's leading arms suppliers since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh war during which its arch-foe Pakistan strongly supported Azerbaijan. Their multimillion-dollar defense contracts reportedly call for the delivery of Indian surface-to-air missiles, multiple-launch rocket systems, howitzers, and anti-drone equipment to the Armenian army.
Chauhan inspected some of that military hardware when he visited Yerevan in early February. He met with Asrian and Defense Minister Suren Papikian during the five-day trip. Official Armenian readouts of the talks did not say whether they reached or discussed more arms deals.
Russia had long been Armenia's principal supplier of weapons and ammunition. The Armenian government has been looking for alternative sources of weaponry due to its growing tensions with Moscow and the continuing war in Ukraine that absorbs the bulk of military hardware manufactured in Russia. Since October 2023, Yerevan has also signed a number of arms deals with French companies.
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