By RIA Novosti,
Havana : Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to India in early December will go as planned, a presidential spokesperson said Friday as Indian authorities were completing an anti-terrorist operation in Mumbai.
“There are no plans to reschedule the president’s visit, slated for early December, unless India has other proposals,” Natalia Timakova told reporters.
President Medvedev arrived in the Cuban capital Friday on a visit to the communist-ruled island in the last leg of his four-nation Latin American tour.
India’s commercial capital of Mumbai was hit by a series of terrorist attacks Wednesday evening as militants targeted high-profile soft targets, including the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel and the Oberoi Trident Hotel, killing at least 130 people.
Indian security forces have cleared the Oberoi Trident hotel of the terrorists while operation to flush out terrorists from the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel continued Friday afternoon.
Commenting on the attacks, Medvedev said: “We are concerned about the loss of life and consider that acts of terrorism of this type are harmful to the whole international order and a challenge to humanity.”
Russia and India are currently preparing to sign a bilateral nuclear agreement. Under the agreement, Russia will help india build four more reactors at India’s Kudankulam nuclear power plant to add to the two that already exist. Further nuclear cooperation is also envisaged.
Russia and India have seen a growth in bilateral trade this year, which increased in the first nine months of 2008 by 41.6 percent to $3.8 billion year-on-year.
The last Russian-Indian summit was held in November 2007, when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Russia.