New Delhi [India], September 11 (ANI): Maxim Andrianov, International Marketing Manager at Russian Helicopters Group, on Friday said that India’s leadership of BRICS has helped advance discussions on cooperation in disaster relief, while India and Russia continue to share a longstanding partnership in the civil aviation and helicopter sectors.
Speaking to ANI, Andrianov said the BRICS aviation working group had discussed a proposal for a disaster relief mechanism that could help member countries respond to forest fires and other disasters.
“I see it quite positively. It was very interesting to cooperate with the aviation working group, and we have introduced new projects of disaster relief authority for the whole BRICS union, like an intergovernmental organisation that would help nations to fight forest fires or some disasters and help people improve their lives,” Andrianov said.
He said India had supported the initiative, although the proposal could not move to concrete steps this year.
"India supported our initiative, though we have failed to move to some concrete steps this year, but still we have achieved progress with that idea,” he said.
On India-Russia aviation cooperation, Andrianov said India had traditionally been a major partner for Russia, with cooperation covering fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters.
“India has traditionally been our big partner in this field. You might have heard the news about the fixed-wing aircraft, some projects of airplane assembly here in India. We have many projects with the helicopters here in India regarding both supplies and the maintenance projects. So, India has been for years our traditional partner, and I doubt that it will change within the next many years,” he added.
Andrianov said the partnership had developed over many years and remained beneficial for both countries. “It’s very many years of strong and fruitful cooperation, beneficial for both the Indian companies that operate our helicopters and Russia as well,” he said.
He also highlighted the potential of helicopters in improving passenger connectivity and supporting people living in remote areas.
“I would say passenger transportation the remote area support, because we have like our both countries have a big territory, and there are bigger cities and smaller cities which might be located in hard-to-get areas, and helicopter transport is the solution for those areas,” Andrianov said.
He pointed to a similar programme in Russia under which government support enables helicopter connectivity between villages and larger cities. “So, I think if this program goes bigger, gets more people involved, transported, that will increase the nation's prosperity and help people develop themselves,” he said.
Andrianov further highlighted helicopter emergency medical services as another area where cooperation and greater use of helicopters could benefit people in remote areas.
"The second thing is the helicopter EMS solution. You cannot build a hospital in every small city or village, but the same person lives in the small village. It has the same rights. He also pays taxes. That is why government should care about every citizen of their country,” he said.
He said Russia’s helicopter EMS programme sought to ensure access to healthcare for citizens regardless of where they lived. “We have a helicopter EMS program in Russia when government guarantees every citizen who lives in a big city or a small city that he will get the proper level of health care,” Andrianov said.
He also called for greater cultural exchanges between India and Russia, saying closer people-to-people ties were important alongside economic cooperation. “And the third one, I would say some cultural exchange, because we live in a world where life has got much faster. So, we need to exchange, to set up a bigger cultural exchange between our countries,” Andrianov added.
Sharing his own experience during his visit to India, he said he had visited museums to understand Indian culture.
“Because I have stayed here since Monday. And two days out of that, I was visiting some museums, trying to get some feeling of Indian culture just planted in my soul to bring it home,” he said.
His remarks come as India and Russia have significantly expanded their bilateral talks to jointly manufacture the Ilyushin Il-114-300 turboprop and the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SJ-100), as discussions were held with the Russian delegation regarding the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russia for aircraft manufacturing in India.
Earlier, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu said India and Russia have expanded discussions on manufacturing aircraft in the country, including turboprop IL-114 and Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the BRICS Summit, Naidu said that the aircraft are compatible with India's regional connectivity requirements, especially with several airports being developed across the country. (ANI)
“Our big partner in this field”: Russian helicopters official Andrianov on India-Russia aviation ties
