Modi, Putin Agree on Economic Ties Between Indian Think Tank, Russian Ministry

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during an informal summit on Monday on the establishment of an economic dialogue between NITI Aayog, the policy think tank of the Indian government, and the Russian Economic Development Ministry, the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "Both leaders agreed to institute a Strategic Economic Dialogue between NITI Aayog of India and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, to identify greater synergy in trade and investment," the statement read. According to the ministry, the sides also noted the growing bilateral cooperation in the energy sector. They also welcomed the delivery next month of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India under a long-term agreement between Russia's energy giant Gazprom and India's Natural gas transmission company GAIL. Modi and Putin met in the Russian resort city of Sochi on Monday. In October 2012, Gazprom's subsidiary Gazprom Marketing and Trading Singapore signed a legally binding 20-year LNG supply agreement with GAIL. Under the agreement, GAIL will receive 2.5 million tonnes of LNG annually. GAIL confirmed in January that the LNG delivery would start in the second quarter of 2018. Read more: https://sputniknews.com/russia/201805221064666947-russia-india-talks-economy-cooperation/