President Putin seeks to elevate co-operation, establishing dialogue on economic issues, increasing Indian imports, and nuclear energy.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, stated that Moscow wants to “elevate cooperation” with India to take their partnership to a “qualitatively new level,” establishing meaningful communication on economic matters.
The Russian president’s comments precede his two-day visit to India on December 4-5 for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited him to attend.
Speaking at an investment symposium in Moscow on Tuesday, Putin said the goal of several collaborative projects across energy, industry, space, agriculture, and other areas is to elevate ties with India.
“By enhancing its technological component, we hope to take our collaboration with the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of India to a completely new level. This is the purpose of countless cooperative initiatives in energy, industry, space, agriculture, and other fields,” Putin stated.
The Russian President added that Moscow maintains a “substantive dialogue” with Chinese President Xi Jinping on economic matters and hopes to continue the same with PM Modi during his impending visit.
Russia has already established a significant discussion concerning economic matters with President Xi Jinping of China, and President Putin confirmed they intend to cover these subjects in depth during the upcoming Indian visit with Prime Minister Modi, with a specific focus on boosting the volume of Indian goods imported into the Russian market.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had suggested that discussions might include the sale of additional S-400 long-range air defence weapons.
Russia acknowledged that conversations regarding the potential procurement of modern military aircraft are set to take place.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, emphasised the strength of India-Russia defence cooperation, noting that joint initiatives like BrahMos symbolise more than merely transactions, but rather a critical exchange of advanced technologies that prepares the way for a bright future. He emphasised that Russia is ready to share its knowledge and capabilities with its Indian partners about the development of advanced and complicated military equipment. The ongoing defence talks are expected to include the Russian offer for India to potentially acquire the powerful Su-57 fifth-generation stealth fighter, although an official decision on the aircraft has not yet been reached by India.
There is a prospect of a new agreement on Nuclear energy between India and Russia. Russia is presenting a small, flexible reactor design and is interested in mutual and collaborative investments in this sector, extending the partnership previously established with the Kudankulam project in India.
Regarding the broader partnership, India aims to preserve its links in key industries, notwithstanding volatility in crude oil purchases. While conversations on additional acquisition of certain equipment are anticipated, analysts think that external geopolitical talks would enhance India’s ability to strengthen its relationship with Moscow. External constraints are currently affecting the relationship; some analysts have noted that sanctions are slowing down conventional trading, which was mostly dependent on energy. As a result, security cooperation continues to be the most significant factor uniting the two nations.
SOURCE – TIMES OF INDIA
