Russia 091204 Basic Political Developments

Indianexpress.com: PM to visit Russia, defence deal on agenda

Doing away with the existing ad-hocism in after-sales services by Russian defence equipment manufacturers, India and Russia are set to sign an umbrella agreement aimed at streamlining the maintenance of defence equipment used by the Indian armed forces.

This key agreement will be signed when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Russia between December 6 and 8.

The agreement, according to sources, will help in getting over the problem of ad-hoc arrangements in the maintenance of defence equipment and ensure timely upkeep of weapons supplied by the Russian firms. Former Soviet Union — and now Russia — has traditionally been arms suppliers to India, and in recent years, Israel and US have emerged as rivals for the Indian arms market.

While this agreement provides for an institutional mechanism for post-sales services in defence equipment, another pact will be signed to extend the existing India-Russia Long-Term Inter-Governmental Agreement on the programme for Military Technical Cooperation for a further 10 years, from 2011 to 2020.

Nrcsamaylive.com: Civil Nuclear ties on agenda of PM's Russia visit  

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New Delhi: Bilateral trade between India and Russia and expanding of civil nuclear ties will be high on the agenda during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Russia beginning on December 6. The Prime Minister leaves for Russia on Sunday for the annual summit talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Ministry officials said. Dr Singh is going to visit Moscow at the invitation of Medvedev .During the three day visit, the Prime Minister will hold talks with Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Sources said that during the trip, the Prime Minister would also attend the closing ceremony of the Year of India festival in Russia, to be held at the Bolshoi Theatre. Also, Dr Singh and Mr Medvedev are expected to expand civil nuclear cooperation between India and Russia. This follows the agreement, signed during a visit by the Russian President to New Delhi in December last year, to build civilian nuclear reactors in India. Atomstroyexport, Russia's nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, has been building two reactors for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu since 2002 in line with a 1988 deal between India and the Soviet Union and an addendum signed 10 years later. Electricity production is scheduled to start in the first half of 2010. Sources also said the two countries are expected to sign defence-related agreements estimated at around 5 billion Dollars, which include a 10-year deal on weapons, aircraft and maintenance contracts. The issue of terrorism and the situation in Afghanistan are also likely to figure in the Prime Minister's talks with Russian officials. Updated : Friday, 04 Dec 2009, 11:23 [IST]

ANI: India, Russia likely to sign 123 type atomic energy pact during PM’s visit

December 3, 2009Tags: admiral gorshkov, dr manmohan singh, energy reactors

New Delhi, Dec. 3 (ANI): India and Russia are likely to sign an atomic energy agreement along the lines of the 123 agreement that has been inked by India and the United States during the three-day visit of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Moscow from December 6.

According to sources, this atomic energy agreement will cover a broad spectrum of bilateral nuclear trade. Although, India has a nuclear pact with Russia, it is confined to the construction of nuclear sites.

Russia is already building four nuclear energy reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu and two additional sites have been allocated for new reactors in Haripur, West Bengal.

In 2008, Russia was the third country to sign a nuclear deal with India after the signing of the India-US agreement which allows India access to civilian nuclear technology and fuel. France has also signed a co-operation pact with Delhi.

Moscow and Delhi also signed a deal under which Russia will assist India in its space programme, including sending Indian astronauts into space.

During the visit of the Prime Minister from December 6 to 8, the two sides are also expected to sign agreements for enhancing cooperation in the health and culture sectors.

Sources have told ANI that the Russian-manufactured aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov deal is unlikely to be sealed during the visit.New Delhi sees it as an ongoing technical issue, which will take some time to be finalised.

Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Verma, on Wednesday said that negotiations on the price of the aircraft carrier is in the “final stages”. He refused to fix a deadline for the deal.

“We are on the final stages of negotiations. Fourth round of negotiations have completed,” Verma told reporters ahead of the Navy Week celebrations.

“It is true that the project is behind schedule. But we are working on our programme to seize the delivery of the platform by 2012. It continues to be addressed at every bilateral level,” Admiral Verma said yesterday.

According to the initial agreement, the the aircraft carrier was a gift from Russia, but India was to spend 974 million dollars to upgrade it to the Indian Navy’s specifications.

The balance of the 1.5 billion dollar deal was for the 16 MiG-29 jets and Kamov anti-submarine warfare helicopters that will be deployed on the ship.

While in Moscow, the Prime Minister will also be attending the concluding ceremony of the Year of India where the top leadership of Russia will also be present.

The issue of terrorism will also be taken up during the visit.

According to sources, three agreements on defence cooperation will be signed during the visit. Sources said that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has given its approval to the same. y Naveen Kapoor (ANI)