Tuesday, May 17 2005 10:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Ironing out some differences, India and Russia are now close to concluding an Intellectual Property Right (IRP) agreement to cover co-production of weapons systems and missiles, Defence Ministry sources said in New Delhi.

After India found the first Russian draft on the IPR a bit restrictive, Moscow has now sent a new draft, which is presently under active consideration of the Government, the sources said.

The revised draft, the sources said had been handed over to the Defence Secretary Ajai Vikram Singh who recently led a high-powered Defence Delegation to Russia.

The agreement, sources said, would cover Ancillary supplies for Russian armaments produced in India and also addressed concerns voiced by Moscow on India upgrading Russian equipment in use with the country's armed forces with the help of third countries.

India has recently reached agreement with Israel on up gunning of the Russian 130MM guns to 155 MM calibre. New Delhi, Moscow as well as Telaviv are jointly working on producing India's first ever Airborne Early Warning and Air Con Control Systems (AWACS) and Mig 21 fighters.