Russian-Indian partnership has great future - Russian vice-premier

NEW DELHI, December 8 /TASS/. Russia sees great prospects for developing partnership with India and is ready to help it with technologies, which no other country in the world would like to share with, Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin told TASS on Tuesday after talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his National Security Adviser Ajit Doval during a one-day working visit to New Delhi. "Russia regards India as a partner with which we have practically no restrictions in terms of our international commitments except for separate issues such as the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). But it’s just a matter of time," Rogozin said. According to him, the Indian side showed great interest in obtaining modern Russian technologies. "India is very interested in technologies with which no other country, which is trying to make friends with it, is going to share for reasons of national egoism and narrow-mindedness. As for us, we see great prospects here," the Russian vice-premier stressed. Russia and India continue cooperation in the peaceful use of atom, which according to Rogozin, is moving in the right direction. "The two sides discussed further development of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant as well as the construction of new Russia-designed NPPs at other sites in India. I would not like to forestall the results of the forthcoming bilateral summit due to take place in Moscow on December 24-25 but I can say that we are moving in the right direction," Rogozin told TASS on Tuesday. Russia is building the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in India under the 1988 inter-governmental agreement and the 1998 addition to it. The station’s first nuclear power unit is the most powerful and safest in India. It meets all modern safety standards. The unit was included in India’s national energy grid in 2013 and handed over to the annual period of guarantee maintenance ending in late 2015. Pre-starting works are under way at the second nuclear power unit. Russia and India signed the master framework agreement for the construction of the second stage (the third and fourth power units) of the Kudankulam NPP in spring 2014. In December the same year, the sides signed documents allowing the construction to begin. In December 2014, Moscow and New Delhi signed a document on strategic vision of serial construction of nuclear power units in India by using Russian technologies. The document outlines plans for the construction of more than 20 nuclear power units in India; cooperation in the construction of Russia-designed NPPs in third countries as well as joint uranium extraction; the production of nuclear fuel and nuclear waste disposal. Rogozin believes that Russia has what to offer India in the sphere of space exploration. "In 2015, the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) was in the process of transition to a united state corporation and was seriously preoccupied with the internal reforms. As of January 1, 2016, the state corporation will remain the only body to regulate Russia’s policy in space exploration. Today, we agreed on the first steps of interaction with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)," Rogozin said. The vice-premier explained that other topics for discussion included the development of a group of satellites for remote sensing of the Earth and the creation of ground architecture, including navigation groupings. "We have enormous top-quality potential linked to rocket propulsion engineering. We can offer it to India in a long-term perspective when it joins the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)," Rogozin said. "It is a sphere in which we actively cooperate even with the Americans. Despite their self-limitation in this field, they have to recognize Russia’s perfection in this type of technologies," the Russian vice-premier stressed. Read more