India, Russia extend defence treaty to 2010

India and Russia have decided to extend their defence co-operation agreement by another decade. The treaty was scheduled to expire in 2,000.

A defence ministry spokesman said the agreement emerged following a 30-minute meeting on Tuesday between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav at the Kremlin. Yadav is on a five-day official visit to Russia.

Yadav and Yeltsin agreed to extend the long-term Indo-Russian military-technical co-operation agreement, signed in December 1994, till 2010.

Another significant highlight of the meeting was the reiteration by the Russian president that his country would not sell arms to Pakistan.

Then Russian defence minister Igor Rodionov had categorically declared during his official visit to India last year that Moscow would not sell arms to any country inimical to India.

Yadav, the defence ministry spokesman said, apprised Yeltsin about the situation on the sub-continent. ''India is a peace-loving nation," the defence minister said, "and has enough patience, but it will be forced to take action in case of danger to the lives of innocent citizens.''

He was referring to the recent unprovoked firing by Pakistan in Kargil along the Line of Control in which 17 civilians were killed and 30 injured. The defence minister also briefed Yeltsin about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.