India and Ukraine are to sign a strategic partnership during the four-day state visit of President ViktorYanukovych beginning on Sunday.Senior defence officials told India Today that the strategic partnership would enhance military cooperation between the two countries particularly in the field joint ventures.
"Ukraine also provides an attractive alternative to Russia as an arms supplier," a defence official said. President Yanukovych will be accompanied by a sizeable defence delegation.
On the anvil are deals for the sale of the formidable 'Kolchuga' electronic support measure system used to detect and track stealth warplanes, the R-77 missile and collaborations in aerospace projects. Both countries arealso expected to sign deals on trade and nuclear safety related issues.
For years, India and Ukraine had frosty relations following Russian sensitivities and also for the fact that Ukraine emerged as a major supplier of main battle tanks to Pakistan.
The ice was broken in 2009 when Ukraine and India signed a $400 million deal to upgrade the Indian AirForce's fleet of 105 Soviet-era An-32 light transport aircraft.
A total of 25 upgraded aircraft have been handed over so far. The deal calls for the modernization of 40 An-32s in Ukraine and the remainder in Kanpur.
Ukraine inherited a legacy of Soviet-era military industrial complex. The 'Zorya' gas turbines that power Delhi class naval warships are produced in Ukraine.
Interestingly, both aircraft carriers, India's Vikramaditya(ex-Admiral Gorshkov) and China's Liaoning(ex-Varyag) were built in Ukraine's Nikolayev shipyard.
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