Anti-Terrorism An Important Aspect Of Indo-Russian Cooperation: PutinVisiting Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday in New Delhi that combating terrorism was a very important aspect of Indo-Russian cooperation though the focus of his talks with Indian leaders would be on bilateral relations and cooperation on the international front.Putin, who arrived here late Monday evening for a four-day state visit, was accorded a ceremonial welcome here this morning by Indian President Kocheril Raman Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Putin told the media after the ceremony that Russian-Indian "partnership in various fields including nuclear and power was progressing quite adequately and in complete accordance with international commitment and obligation". "The focus of discussions (with Indian leaders) would be on bilateral relations between India and Russia and coordination of mutual efforts on the international scenario," said the Russian president. To a question on tackling terrorism in the region, Putin said "joint combating of terrorism is one of the aspects of our interaction." He said his country was more interested in economic, cultural and scientific relations and development of relations in military and technical areas. Putin, the first Russian President to visit India in seven-and-a-half years, had private dinner and informal talks with Vajpayee at the Prime Minister's official residence here soon after his arrival last night. The two leaders are scheduled to have wide-ranging discussions on a whole range of international, regional and bilateral issues including the development in Afghanistan during one-to-one and delegation-level talks Tuesday afternoon. They will sign a Declaration on Strategic Partnership and firm up agreements on defense, nuclear energy, civil aviation, agriculture, education and culture with an aim to give a fresh impetus to relations between the two countries. Putin is leading a 70-member high-power delegation including Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev. The president will also pay a two-day visit to India's biggest commercial city of Bombay, 1400 kilometers southwest of here, beginning on Thursday. The Pioneer reported on Tuesday that India and Russia are likely to sign some important defense deals during Putin's visit. The deals would cover a wide range of military products including the T-90 main battle tank, the SU-30 fighter jet, the Smerch artillery system and aircraft carrier Gorshkov. According to the Times of India today, India needs Russia for arms and weapons systems that no one else would provide and Russia needs India's military purchases, up to 2 billion U.S. dollars a year, without which the Russian arms industry would sink. Both New Delhi and Moscow candidly admitted that trade figures between the two countries do match the potential and the fact that 85 percent of the trade is financed by repayments being made by India of the old rupee-rouble loans is something India doesn't relish. A Russian presidential visit, due for several years, could not materialize because of the ill-health of Putin's predecessor Boris Yeltsin, who was last here in 1993. |
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