Agencies/Moscow
India sees Russia as a reliable friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin as the 16th annual summit between the two countries got underway here yesterday.
After exchanging greetings at the start of the talks with the Putin, Modi said India and Russia were now co-operating in the international and political arenas more actively, TASS news agency reported.
The prime minister said he saw Russia as a reliable friend that had always supported India at difficult times, adding that his country aimed to continue its strategic partnership with Russia.
Putin said that Russia and India were consistently and confidently developing the strategic partnership.
“I am pleased to note, and I am happy to do that, that we are consistently and confidently developing the privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia,” he said.
The Russian president noted that the bilateral relations were developing in all directions - in international politics, economy and the humanitarian area.
He added that a number of issues required special attention, “especially in today’s challenging economic environment.”
According to Putin, Modi’s visit was very timely and would make it possible to “synchronise watches” on the main areas of co-operation between the two countries.
Ahead of the talks, Modi laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier located by the Kremlin wall in the Alexandrovsky Garden.
Earlier in the day, Modi visited Russia’s National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC), also known as EMERCOM, in Moscow and was given a rundown on how its works.
The two leaders met on Wednesday evening for a one-on-one dinner chat that was closed to press and held in the company of only their translators, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, calling it “very constructive and warm.”
He added that the Kremlin expected Putin and Modi to ease some visa requirements and oversee the signing of agreements by Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom and railway monopoly Russian Railways, without giving details.
Modi said on Twitter that conversation focused on India-Russia ties, calling it “fruitful” and also publishing pictures of the pair exchanging gifts.
Ahead of the trip, Modi said he aims to “deepen the co-operation between India and Russia in the economic, energy and security spheres” and called Russia “one of India’s most valued friends in the world.”
Officials declined to discuss possible defence deals to be signed in Moscow, though media reports indicated there could be as much as $7bn worth of contracts.
A report last week said that India’s top acquisition body had cleared the purchase of Russia’s most advanced S-400 air defence systems.
India was the erstwhile Soviet Union’s closest military ally during the Cold War and a major importer of its military hardware.
Dipankar Banerjee, a defence analyst at New Delhi-based think-tank Forum for Strategic Initiatives, said India was “vulnerable to Pakistan and China both in terms of missile attacks and air strikes” and that the defence systems were “very desirable” despite a hefty price tag.
Indian firm Reliance Defence Limited said yesterday it had decided to work with the manufacturer of the S-400 “on the entire range of Air Defence Missile and Radar Systems” that India needs.
It was not clear whether the two companies are ready to reach a firm deal on the missiles.
Russian daily Kommersant this week said Putin’s one-on-one talks with Modi would likely be the defining moment for the deal as the two seek to resolve price disagreements.
India could be in the market for as many as five systems, the paper’s defence sources said, with deals on Russian frigates and a helicopter-building joint venture also on the cards.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall in Moscow yesterday.
