COAS Russia MoD talks dominated the second leg of General Dhiraj Seth's ongoing official visit to Russia on Friday, with the Chief of the Army Staff calling on the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation and holding discussions with General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, Deputy Minister of Defence.

COAS Russia MoD talks centre on capability development

The engagement focussed on joint capability development, professional military exchanges and avenues for enhanced military to military engagements, the Indian Army said in a statement on the meeting. Gen Seth's Russia visit is his first as Chief of the Army Staff and began earlier in the week with a Moscow leg that opened with a Guard of Honour and a tribute at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, before talks at Russian Land Forces Headquarters and a stop at the National Defence Control Centre.


Gen Seth's call on Deputy Minister Yevkurov

Gen Yevkurov has held the post of Deputy Minister of Defence in Moscow since 2019, after an earlier career that included command of the Russian Army's 58th Army and more than a decade as head of the Republic of Ingushetia. The Indian Army's post carried a photograph of the two men together at Russian Land Forces headquarters.

Friday's meeting followed Gen Seth's engagements earlier in the visit with the Commander in Chief of the Russian Land Forces and a stop at the Mikhailovskaya Military Artillery Academy in Saint Petersburg, covering Russia's army leadership and its officer training establishment before the Defence Ministry call.

Part of a week long visit across Russia

Friday's COAS Russia MoD talks capped the diplomatic component of a visit that has spanned ceremonial honours in Moscow, professional exchanges with the Russian Land Forces and now a call at the Defence Ministry itself, tracked publicly through a series of Indian Army posts rather than a single consolidated Ministry of External Affairs statement.

Wider India Russia defence ties

The visit also sits against a broader India Russia defence relationship that runs well beyond the Army, spanning private industry, missile systems and platform upgrades on the Air Force and Navy side.

A separate call on India's Ambassador to Russia

Gen Seth also called on Shri Vinay Kumar, Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation, whose office operates out of the Indian Embassy in Moscow. The two discussed issues of India Russia bilateral cooperation and measures for strengthening Defence ties, according to the Indian Army, with a second photograph showing the two men at the call.