In the midst of international isolation, Moscow clapped hands with India for the production of Russian aircraft
Vistara (Air India) Airbus 321 NEO takes off from Denpasar Bali Ngurah Rai Airport on June 22, 2025. Illustrative image. PHOTO: SOPA Images, SOPA Images Limited / Alamy / Profimedia
The Indian public aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Russian state company United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) signed an agreement to produce in India the SJ-100 passenger plane, the first plane to be manufactured entirely in the Asian country since 1988, EFE news agency writes on Tuesday.
“HAL and UAC signed in Moscow, Russia on October 27, 2025, a memorandum of understanding for the production of the SJ-100 civil aircraft,” the Indian company said in a statement published on the X social network.
The SJ-100 is a narrow-body aircraft developed since 2000 by the Suhoi company, of which more than 200 units have already been produced, operated by 16 commercial airlines, according to Agerpres.
The Indian company pointed out that this will be the first case of production of a passenger plane in India after the British-designed AVRO HS-748 aircraft, which was manufactured in India between 1961 and 1988.
The agreement between the two companies comes at a time of almost total isolation of Russia due to sanctions imposed by various international actors after the war in Ukraine.
In this context, India was one of the few allies that maintained trade ties with Moscow.
The two countries demonstrated their rapprochement in August at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin met.
