Russian President visit to India

[ejazr]

India, Russia to ink nuclear, defence pacts; AfPak on agenda

New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS) India and Russia are set to sign over a dozen agreements, including key pacts on jointly producing a multi-billion dollar jet fighter deal and building more Russia-aided nuclear reactors, when the leaders of the two countries hold talks here Tuesday.

Moving beyond traditional areas of cooperation like defence, the two sides will also focus on doubling their bilateral trade to $20 billion by 2015 and expand their consultations on the volatile Afghanistan-Pakistan region during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's two-day visit starting Tuesday.

Accompanied by a large business delegation and senior ministers, Medvedev arrives early Tuesday, his second visit to India in three years, for an annual summit meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The visit coincides with the 10th year of the establishment of strategic partnership between India and Russia who are looking to explore new areas to redefine their time-tested partnership in tune with shifting global realities.

Manmohan Singh and Medvedev will Tuesday discuss a range of bilateral and international issues including the expansion of civil nuclear cooperation, the intensification of bilateral economic ties, global terrorism and the international financial crisis.

The Russian leader will also go to Agra and Mumbai Wednesday. In Mumbai, Medvedev will stay at The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, one of the targets of Pakistani terrorists in November 2008, and pay homage to victims of the savagery.

He will visit the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, and go to the Film City where he will interact with Bollywood stars.

The two leaders are set to exchange views on closer cooperation on stabilizing Afghanistan and explore ways of working together in the light of planned withdrawal of US troops from that country in July 2011.

More than 15 agreements are expected to be signed.

The Russian leader is expected to forcefully underline Moscow's commitment to support India's bid for permanent membership in the UN Security Council.

Ahead of his visit to India, Medvedev described the India-Russia ties as 'a privileged partnership'' characterised by 'close interaction in international affairs as well as by large-scale and multi-faceted trade, economic, scientific, technological and humanitarian ties'.

Saying 'high technology is at the top of our agenda', he announced that an integrated programme of cooperation in the areas of science, technology and innovation for till 2020 will be signed.

'Major cooperation areas include energy including nuclear energy, metallurgy, oil and gas production, transportation and outer space exploration. We have identified a number of long-term projects in these areas,' he said.

Last week, Russian ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin said the much-awaited deal on the joint production of the cutting edge fifth generation jet fighter and an agreement on Russia building more 1,000-MW nuclear reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu are expected to be signed.

A bilateral agreement to offer signals from the Glanost satellite is under negotiation. India's interest in participating in the Sakhalin 3 gas exploration project is likely to be figure in discussions.

The envoy said Russia was upbeat about building 14-16 nuclear reactors in India over the next few years, but asked New Delhi to bring its civilian nuclear liability legislation in line with global norms.

Medvedev, however, hoped that the two sides plan 'to resolve the relevant problems in a constructive way through negotiations'.

 

[Tshering22]

He will visit the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, and go to the Film City where he will interact with Bollywood stars.

LOL! How come Bollywood is on high agendas for Medvedev? Getting nostalgic of Raj Kapoor era eh? :happy_2:

A bilateral agreement to offer signals from the Glanost satellite is under negotiation

And WTF is a Glasnost satellite? Perestroika's brother:emot0: ? It is GLONASS (Russian term abbreviated)!! Seriously, is this the educated reporting Indian media is doing these days? Can judge by the standards.

Last week, Russian ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin said the much-awaited deal on the joint production of the cutting edge fifth generation jet fighter

The signing time has been such a painful wait for me. I really hope our idiotic ministers don't pose any obstacle this time and sign the agreement. It is in cold storage for the last 2 years and I pray that it doesn't go the MRCA way (will offer prayer incenses to Lord Buddha if it signs up ).

And what happened to the AFPAK agenda that's there on the headline? Nothing mentioned in even brief.

 

[divya]

Russian President arrives in India

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev touched down here early Tuesday morning on a two-day visit during which the two sides are expected to sign over a dozen agreements, including a key pact on Moscow building more nuclear reactors in India.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mr. Medvedev will discuss a wide range of bilateral and international issues, including the expansion of civil nuclear cooperation, the intensification of bilateral economic ties, global terrorism and the international financial crisis.

The two sides are set to sign over 15 agreements, including key pacts on jointly producing a multi—billion dollar fifth generation jet fighter and Moscow's plans to build more nuclear reactors in India after the leaders of the two sides hold talks here Tuesday.

The Russian leader will go to Agra and Mumbai Wednesday. In Mumbai, Mr. Medvedev will stay at The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, one of the main targets of November 26, 2008 terror attack, and pay homage to victims of the carnage. He will also go to Film City, where he will interact with Bollywood stars.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article967401.ece?homepage=true

 

[divya]

:happy_2::happy_2::happy_2::happy_2:

With love from India

 

[ejazr]

A friendship between Russia and India never governed by transient political factors

The beauty of Indo-Russian relations is that it is a friendship not subject to political changes. In fact, this relationship has had a strategic partnership backbone from the very beginning, says Alexander M. Kadakin, ambassador of Russia in India

This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership that will be marked by the official visit of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India on December 21 and 22.

Russia was the first country in the world that offered India to bring bilateral relations to such a high level of interaction.

Russian-Indian relations are characterised by one unique feature that is a friendship not subject to political changes. In fact, our relations had a strategic partnership backbone from the very inception.

The Soviet Union provided broad political and economic support to independent India. It was carried out through assistance in building up Indian military potential (Indian armed forces are still equipped with our armaments); through creation of entire industries; through training of qualified personnel; and through the mutual support in international affairs.

Indians still recall those times with gratitude, as our country has always been their main partner and ally. In the early 90s, the dynamics of the Russian-Indian contacts were adversely affected by global shifts and domestic developments both in Russia and India as the two countries underwent a thorny period of political instability and economic reforms.

But the strong ties of friendship between our peoples as well as mutual trust, the absence of political contradictions, similarity of our positions on key international issues and the need for a strong and reliable partner became the foundation for the gradual raise of our relations to their current high level.

Since the 1990s, India has been building up ties with the United States and other Western countries. Some of them are already established and some are moving towards strategic partnership with India. But it would be fundamentally wrong to claim that the pro-Western orientation has gained the upper hand in Indian policy.

For New Delhi, national interests have always been of paramount importance with the multilateral foreign policy, especially during the age of globalisation.

Russian-Indian cooperation has preserved its unique niche. Our need for each other is not dictated by ideology, but rather by actual political and economic necessity.

Modern India is one of the largest world economies with the GNP over 1 trillion dollars. The average annual economic growth rates throughout the last decade were constantly at 7% and the current fiscal year might boast of even 9% growth.

Even the global economic crisis didn't manage to shake the pillars of the Indian economy. The country with a population of 1.2 billion (where the number of middle-class people reaches 400 million), maintains a high level of domestic demand with a lion's share of locally produced goods.

India occupies fourth place in the world in terms of the amount of its currency reserves that exceed $ 290 billion. In most industries, transfer of advanced technologies is the essential condition for foreign companies willing to enter the Indian market.

India accounts for a quarter of the global pharmaceutical turnover. It has become one of the leading software producers. In fact, India has overtaken Russia in many key development indicators. All this makes us take a new look at India.

The distinctive feature of Russian-Indian relations nowadays is the exceptional intensity of political contacts with summits every year or even more often, meetings of bilateral intergovernmental commissions on cooperation, expanding ties between the regions of the two countries. Indian leaders are frequent guests at various international conferences in Russia, including the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum.

Russia is the only country in the world that offers India razor-edge military technologies including submarines on sale and joint production of state-of-the-art weapon systems.

A shining example of the high level of military and technical cooperation is the development of Brahmos missiles, the fifth-generation fighter jet, the multi-purpose military transport aircraft, and introduction of the GLONASS navigation system in India.

Space exploration is another rapidly expanding sphere for joint efforts.

Another strategically important vista is nuclear cooperation. India which is not a signatory to either the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Agreement on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban has managed to convince the world community of its responsible approach to nuclear non-proliferation issues and it offers new opportunities for deepening our cooperation.

We are a step ahead of other countries in the sphere of building up the Indian civil nuclear capacity. While our competitors only think of entering the Indian market, the Atomstroyexport open joint-stock company is about to finish two 1000 Megawatt reactors in Kudankulam and has prospective plans for more nuclear power plants to be built on other sites in India.

Certainly, the level of Russian-Indian trade and economic cooperation could have been much more impressive. Immaturity of the Russian financial and banking sector, excessive red tape at both ends, the outdated perception of India as a third world country, and the dramatic lack of information about the state and society development at the grass-root level remain the problems.

Nevertheless, the growth rate of our trade and economic relations is clearly showing very positive trends. If in 2000, our trade turnover was around 1-1.5 billion dollars, by the end of this year it is expected to reach 9.5-10 billion. And this is not a limit.

The huge economic potential of Russia and India warrants a search for new common economic interests. We have reasons to believe that the goal of bringing the trade turnover to 20 billion dollars by 2015 is totally realistic and feasible.

Modern Russian-Indian trade and economic relations combine both traditional vistas of bilateral cooperation (metallurgy, power industry, machine building) and new forms that let us make the full use of scientific and economic achievements.

Primarily, it refers to establishing joint enterprises in various industries - telecom, nanotechnology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, as well as the broad range of joint scientific projects including those in Skolkovo, car manufacturing, titanium production and bank cooperation.

The major task is to place the existing potential at the service of economic modernisation and innovative development. These issues will be in the focus of the visit of President Medvedev.

Altogether the advantages of both Russia and India - significant market volume, growing economies, high level of education, political stability - along with traditional friendship and trust between our two nations, create most favourable preconditions to further enhance scope and level of the bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

The forthcoming Russian-Indian summit will symbolise the renewed approach and vision of our bilateral relations towards modernisation and innovation. Both countries are firmly committed to further develop a multifaceted and strategic partnership and maintain the existing level of highest confidence and intensive contacts.

 

[bhramos]

Will support India against friendly neighbour: Medvedev

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday said his country would support India if they ever had to take a hard decision against "a friendly neighbouring country". Addressing a packed hall at IIT Bombay, Medvedev, looking comfortable in an open neck blue shirt and black suit, said India and

"I'm not disclosing a state secret but when I visited India four days after the Mumbai terror attacks I told them (the government)...we are ready to provide weapons, modern technology and know-how," said the dynamic 45-year-old President.

The President had requested to visit IIT Bombay because it was established with the help of the then USSR government. Though he walked in almost an hour late, a loud applause greeted Medvedev. "It was not that I woke up late but the airport was shut for an hour," he said.

He started off by requesting students not to be "strict with their questions".

The request fell flat when a student asked him how Russia would react if they had a terror attack like Mumbai and if their agencies were sure that the attack was rooted in Pakistan.

"You don't ask complicated questions but extremely complicated questions. But complicated questions have simple answers."

He did not rule out the use of armed force to protect the interest of the country: ""¦If Russia is attacked from a foreign state and we are sure the terrorists are housed by that foreign state, we will defend our national interests and even employ armed force".

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Will-...endly-neighbour-Medvedev/Article1-641716.aspx

The President had requested to visit IIT Bombay because it was established with the help of the then USSR government. Though he walked in almost an hour late, a loud applause greeted Medvedev. "It was not that I woke up late but the airport was shut for an hour,"

i never knew this thing,,,,,!!!!!!

 

[maomao]