By IANS
New Delhi : India and Russia will discuss expansion of business ties and energy cooperation, including nuclear energy and hydrocarbons, during Russian Prime Minister Victor A. Zubkov’s maiden visit to the country Tuesday.
A host of crucial issues will be on the table, including bilateral civil nuclear cooperation and the escalation in the price of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holds talks with his Russian counterpart.
Five pacts in the field of aviation and telecom are likely to be signed after the talks, official sources said.
Zubkov will formally inaugurate the Year of Russia in India Tuesday night with a gala concert against the magnificent ruins of the 16th century Purana Qila fort. Like other visiting foreign leaders, Zubkov too has a date with the Taj Mahal in Agra before he heads back to Moscow Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was expected to come to India to open the year of Russia in India, but he couldn’t come due to his preoccupations with the presidential polls scheduled for March.
The issue of expanding civil nuclear cooperation will be discussed but an agreement on building additional reactors at Kudankulam will not be signed this time as well, the sources said.
A bilateral nuclear pact could not be signed during Manmohan Singh’s visit to Moscow in November last year as India made it clear that it will not enter into bilateral deals without a rule change by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Russia is, however, confident that the NSG will effect rule change necessary to conduct global civil nuclear commerce with India and the India-US deal will pass muster in Washington regardless of who is in power.
Russia will also bring up with India a proposal to invest in an international uranium enrichment project that is coming up in Siberia.
The delegation-level talks are expected to clear a controversy around the escalation in the cost of retrofitted aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which India agreed to purchase from Russia.
India is likely to bring up issues like the ban on import of agricultural products by Russia after Khapra beetle, a pest, was allegedly found in a consignment of sesame seeds from India.