The_Sidewinder
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NEW DELHI: Extending a hand of
friendship amid mounting Western
pressure on Moscow, PM Narendra
Modi asserted on Thursday that
Russia remains "our most important
defence partner". The two countries
decided that Russia will
manufacture advanced military
helicopters in India and set up 12
new nuclear reactors by 2035 to
meet growing energy demand.
India declared that the strategic
partnership with Russia was
"incomparable", making it clear that
it will not be a party to sanctions
against the country by Western
countries over the annexation of
Crimea. The two sides signed 20
agreements across sectors ranging
from defence, nuclear energy and
hydrocarbons and announced a
'Druzhba-Dosti' vision statement for
the next decade to revitalise ties.
Modi said the two countries have "a
friendship of unmatched mutual
confidence, trust and goodwill".
The Strategic Vision for
Strengthening Cooperation in
Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy that
was signed following the talks
envisages a roadmap of bilateral
cooperation for the next two
decades. This includes not less than
a dozen new reactors in the next 20
years. "Towards this objective, the
Indian side agrees to expeditiously
identify a second site, in a d d i t i
o n t o Kudankulam, for the
construction of the Russian-designed
nuclear power units in India,"
according to the strategic vision
document, which also envisages joint
nuclear research. Modi set the ball
rolling earlier on Thursday morning
by tweets in Russian to welcome
Putin to India. Later he spoke about
the uniqueness of the relationship.
"The character of global politics and
international relations is changing.
However, the importance of this
relationship and its unique place in
India's foreign policy will not
change. In many ways, its
significance to both countries will
grow further in the future," Modi
said even as he suggested sensitivity
towards each other's interests in
oblique reference to Moscow's
defence pact with Islamabad.
Besides energy, defence ties
expectedly dominated the 15th
India-Russia annual summit as the
two sides discussed a broad range of
new projects. Supporting India's
quest for self-reliance in defence,
Russia offered to fully manufacture
in India one of its most advanced
helicopters. It includes the
possibility of exports from India and
can be used for both military and
civilian use. "We will follow up on
this quickly," Modi told the media.
It has been learnt that this could be
the KA 226 helicopter. Modi also
said Putin had responded positively
to a proposal to locate
manufacturing facilities in India for
spares and components for Russian
defence equipment for the country.
PM Narendra Modi to Vladimir Putin: Russia our most important defence partner - The Economic Times on Mobile
friendship amid mounting Western
pressure on Moscow, PM Narendra
Modi asserted on Thursday that
Russia remains "our most important
defence partner". The two countries
decided that Russia will
manufacture advanced military
helicopters in India and set up 12
new nuclear reactors by 2035 to
meet growing energy demand.
India declared that the strategic
partnership with Russia was
"incomparable", making it clear that
it will not be a party to sanctions
against the country by Western
countries over the annexation of
Crimea. The two sides signed 20
agreements across sectors ranging
from defence, nuclear energy and
hydrocarbons and announced a
'Druzhba-Dosti' vision statement for
the next decade to revitalise ties.
Modi said the two countries have "a
friendship of unmatched mutual
confidence, trust and goodwill".
The Strategic Vision for
Strengthening Cooperation in
Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy that
was signed following the talks
envisages a roadmap of bilateral
cooperation for the next two
decades. This includes not less than
a dozen new reactors in the next 20
years. "Towards this objective, the
Indian side agrees to expeditiously
identify a second site, in a d d i t i
o n t o Kudankulam, for the
construction of the Russian-designed
nuclear power units in India,"
according to the strategic vision
document, which also envisages joint
nuclear research. Modi set the ball
rolling earlier on Thursday morning
by tweets in Russian to welcome
Putin to India. Later he spoke about
the uniqueness of the relationship.
"The character of global politics and
international relations is changing.
However, the importance of this
relationship and its unique place in
India's foreign policy will not
change. In many ways, its
significance to both countries will
grow further in the future," Modi
said even as he suggested sensitivity
towards each other's interests in
oblique reference to Moscow's
defence pact with Islamabad.
Besides energy, defence ties
expectedly dominated the 15th
India-Russia annual summit as the
two sides discussed a broad range of
new projects. Supporting India's
quest for self-reliance in defence,
Russia offered to fully manufacture
in India one of its most advanced
helicopters. It includes the
possibility of exports from India and
can be used for both military and
civilian use. "We will follow up on
this quickly," Modi told the media.
It has been learnt that this could be
the KA 226 helicopter. Modi also
said Putin had responded positively
to a proposal to locate
manufacturing facilities in India for
spares and components for Russian
defence equipment for the country.
PM Narendra Modi to Vladimir Putin: Russia our most important defence partner - The Economic Times on Mobile
