By IANS
New Delhi : India and Russia Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations on a civil nuclear pact that makes way for the construction by Russia of four new nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu. Both countries also pledged to double trade to $10 billion by 2010.
Russian Prime Minister Victor A. Zubkov, who arrived here Tuesday morning on a two-day official visit, held talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on an array of bilateral, regional and global issues, including civilian nuclear cooperation. He is leading a 150-member business delegation that includes big Russian companies such as Sistema, Siberian Ural Energy Co (SUEK Group) and Aeroflot, among others.
“We have finalised negotiations for an agreement on cooperation in the construction of additional nuclear power plants in India,” Manmohan Singh told reporters after his talks with Zubkov, as he stressed on the “time tested nature of the close and special ties” between the two countries.
Describing India as a “trusted friend”, his Russian counterpart said, “we will continue to cooperate in civil nuclear energy and peaceful uses of outer space”.
However, both sides agreed that a bilateral nuclear pact that will entail Russia building four additional reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu will be signed only after a change in guidelines by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) allows for resumption of global civilian nuclear cooperation with India.
The two countries had finalised the text of a bilateral nuclear pact ahead of Manmohan Singh’s visit to Moscow in November last year, but it could not be signed due to India’s principled position not to sign such a bilateral pact with any other country till a change in guidelines by the NSG.
Manmohan Singh also told Zubkov about the ongoing efforts by India to finalise a safeguards pact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – a key step that will pave the way for operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
On the economic front, India and Russia agreed to accelerate bilateral trade and investment to raise trade volume from $5 billion to $10 billion by 2010.
“Economic interactions are one of the basic elements of the growing partnership between both the countries. Our bilateral trade grew by 30 percent and equalled to $5 billion last year,” Zubkov told a gathering of Indian business leaders while addressing the ‘India and Russia Forum on Trade and investment’ organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
“By 2010 we might touch $10 billion if we can keep our trade at this rate,” said Zubkov, who is accompanied by Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade E.S. Nabiullina.
Earlier, Manmohan Singh said both leaders had agreed on the need to “diversify our trade basket, and expand cooperation in sectors such as minerals, diamonds, transport and infrastructure, investment and services, and high technology”.
“We reaffirmed our commitment to build upon our defence relations which is an important pillar of our strategic partnership,” Manmohan Singh said.
The two leaders discussed the controversial escalation in the price by Russia of the retrofitted aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.
The Russian side defended the escalation in the costs, saying the economics of refitting the aircraft carrier have changed radically since the two sides entered into an agreement over three years ago. The two sides agreed to find a mutually acceptable solution to this contentious issue and resolved not to allow it to cloud their longstanding defence ties.
Cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector also figured in the discussions.
A memorandum on the development of cooperation in law enforcement matters between the Central Board of Excise and Customs, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance of India and the Russian Federal Customs Service was signed after talks between the two leaders.
Another MoU on cooperation in the field of archives was inked by heads of the National Archives of India and Russia’s Federal Archival Agency.
In the evening, Manmohan Singh and Zubkov jointly inaugurated the Year of Russia in India with a gala concert against the magnificent ruins of the 16th century Purana Qila fort.