The Hindu : International : Unprecedented level in ties: Putin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 17, 2005

International

International

Unprecedented level in ties: Putin

Vladimir Radyuhin

There is no question of diluting the dominant position Russia enjoys on the Indian defence market

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin described as "unprecedented" the current level of Indo-Russian ties and said Russia was ready to further upgrade defence cooperation with India.

"I am pleased to note that the level of our political contacts has reached unprecedented level in recent years," Mr. Putin said receiving Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Kremlin on Wednesday.

Mr. Putin said defence cooperation between India and Russia had achieved "high levels in terms of trust and volumes and stressed Russia's readiness to further upgrade it.

The Defence Minister had a 50-minute meeting with President Putin, including a 30-minute one-to-one interaction. Mr. Mukherjee said he had conveyed a message from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Russian leader and they discussed the agenda of the forthcoming summit in Moscow early next month.

The two leaders also discussed defence cooperation between India and Russia, including some issues raised at the 5th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission for military-technical cooperation.

"Defence contracts in the pipeline between India and Russia that are due for delivery till the end of 2007 are valued at roughly $10 billion," Mr. Mukherjee said, stressing that Russia is India's largest partner in supplying defence equipment, weapon platforms and systems.

"There is no question of diluting the dominant position Russia enjoys on the Indian defence market," Mr. Mukherjee assured Mr. Putin.

The issue of nuclear energy cooperation was touched upon, with Mr. Putin assuring the Indian side that Russia was actively involved in international efforts to get Nuclear Suppliers Group restrictions lifted for the supply of nuclear technologies to India.

On Iran

On Iran the two sides agreed that the issue of its nuclear programme should not be referred to the United Nations Security Council and must be dealt with in the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Recalling joint war games India and Russia conducted this year, Mr. Putin said: "We are planning to hold more such joint exercises in the future."

He emphasised that interaction between the Defence Ministries of the two countries was developing most dynamically.

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