New Delhi, Dec 2 (Inditop.com) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh leaves for Russia Sunday for the annual summit talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, with expansion of civil nuclear ties, new defence deals and boosting trade high on the agenda.
“Manmohan Singh will visit Moscow (for three days) at the invitation of Medvedev for the annual bilateral Indo-Russian summit,” a statement from the ministry of external affairs said.
“The prime minister will hold talks with Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in addition to having several other engagements,” said the statement.
The Dec 6-8 trip will see Manmohan Singh attending the closing ceremony of the Year of India festival in Russia at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Manmohan Singh and Medvedev are likely to expand the civil nuclear cooperation between India and Russia. The agreement to build civilian nuclear reactors in India was signed in December 2008 during a visit by the Russian president to New Delhi.
The two sides are expecting to increase bilateral trade from $7 billion to $20 billion by 2015.
The two countries are expected to sign two major defence-related agreements including a 10-year deal on weapons, aircraft and maintenance contracts estimated at around $5 billion.
But the long-awaited deal for aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov is unlikely to be finalised.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony last week said the Gorshkov deal “is not going to be clinched” during the prime minister’s visit.
The price negotiations between Russian and Indian officials for Gorshkov have gone on for long, with both sides refusing to budge from their stands.
In November, a 40-member Russian delegation was in India to discuss the price hike for refurbishment of the $ 2.2-billion aircraft carrier. The total demand by the Russians now touches $2.9 billion, instead of $974 million that was originally contracted. India has asked Russia to bring down the price to $2.1 billion.
The volatile situation in Afghanistan and terrorism are likely to figure in the prime minister’s talks with Russian officials.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Sobyanin was in New Delhi last month and Indian President Pratibha Patil paid a five-day visit to Moscow in September.
