The Hindu : Front Page : Ties with Russia have stood the test of time: Manmohan

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Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007
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Ties with Russia have stood the test of time: Manmohan

Vladimir Radyuhin

Meeting highly constructive and open, says Vladimir Putin

MOSCOW: Dispelling concerns over a recent chill in bilateral ties, leaders of India and Russia have reiterated the depth and intensity of their strategic partnership.

“Ours is a strategic partnership that has stood the test of time,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at a joint press interaction with President Vladimir Putin after their 7th annual summit here on Monday. “Through our discussions today we have consolidated and strengthened our engagement in different fields.”

“Identical views”

The Russian leader said the talks showed that the two countries shared “identical or close views on all issues discussed.” He described his meeting with the Prime Minister as “highly constructive and open.”

“We have confirmed our interest in pursuing bilateral interaction in all directions,” Mr. Putin said.

Dr. Singh also stressed “unanimity” of views between India and Russia, expressing “extreme” satisfaction over his talks with Mr. Putin. He sought to put at rest speculation that Delhi and Moscow were falling out on some international issues.

He said the talks were marked “by warmth, cordiality and unanimity on all issues of mutual interest.”

A restricted meeting between the two leaders that preceded delegation-level talks went on for more than two hours, which is unprecedented for such interactions, and was marked by “real warmth” and “real meeting of minds,” according to Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.

Both leaders underscored the importance of defence cooperation. Dr. Singh described it as “one of the pillars of our strategic partnership.”

During the summit, the two sides signed an inter-government agreement for the development and production of a multirole transport aircraft (MTA). It came on the heels of another agreement for joint construction of a futuristic fifth generation fighter plane signed last month.

The two agreements “open up new prospects for our cooperation in a highly sensitive area of defence,” Mr. Putin said.

Space mission

India and Russia also signed agreements to mount a joint space mission to the moon, to combat drug trafficking and unitise rupee debt funds for Russian investments in India. The Foreign Secretary said the Chandrayaan-II unmanned mission, involving landing a rover on the moon, would hopefully come before the end of 2011 and would provide a “huge impetus” to space research.

Both Mr. Putin and Dr. Singh voiced support for trilateral cooperation among Russia, India and China. Mr. Putin noted that triangular interaction had been put on a permanent basis and showed a tendency for “expansion and deepening in various directions.”

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