Monday, August 21 2006 15:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Moscow: India and Russia today (Aug 21, 2006)agreed to focus on joint war games in services-to-services interaction, joint development of new weapons systems and training of Indian military personnel.

Visiting Chief of Army Staff General J J Singh called on Chief of the Russian General Staff Army General Yuri Baluyevsky to discuss a wide range of issues, including services-to-services cooperation between the land forces of the two nations and sustained supplies of spares for the military hardware.

"The two military leaders discussed the plan of interaction between the land forces of the two countries in 2007, with focus on joint exercises,"a Russian Defence Ministry release said after the Army Chief's talks with General Baluyevsky.

Joint development of new weapon systems and training of Indian military personnel in Russia's defence institutions were also discussed during General Singh's parleys with the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

Singh arrived here yesterday on a week-long Russia visit at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Colonel General Alexei Maslov.

This is his first visit to Russia as the Army Chief and is seen as part of New Delhi's efforts to allay Moscow's concerns over growing Indo-US bonhomie in the defence sector.