PM arrives to red carpet welcome in Russian capital

G Sudhakar Nair
Moscow, Dec 6 (PTI) Seeking to cement bilateral strategic
ties, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived to a red
carpet welcome here Sunday on a three-day visit during which
India and Russia are expected to sign a framework agreement on
civil nuclear cooperation and three defence pacts.

The Prime Minister was received by the First Deputy
Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov and other government officials
in accordance with Russian protocol at the VVIP Vnukovo-2
airport where he was accorded a red carpet welcome.
Indian Ambassador to Russia Prabhat Prakash Shukla and
senior Indian diplomats were also present at the airport to
receive him on his sixth visit to Russia.
During his visit, Singh will review with President Dmitry
Medvedev the status of bilateral cooperation, including in the
key areas of defence, civil nuclear energy, space and
hydrocarbons at the annual bilateral summit Monday.
"The Annual Summit is the principal mechanism for the
advancement of our strategic partnership with Russia. This is
a partnership based on the solid foundation of long-standing
friendship, deep mutual trust and strong convergence of
interests," Singh said in the national capital New Delhi
before leaving for Moscow.
Singh's visit is being seen here as a path-breaking event
in bilateral relations as his summit talks with Medvedev and
Russian strongman Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would chalk
out the blueprint for cooperation in 21st century, primarily
in the spheres of high-tech and knowledge-based fields like
nuclear energy, space and defence. (MORE) PTI GSN
ANU


The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this
message are intended for the exclusive
use of the addressee(s) and may contain proprietary, confidential or privileged
information. If you are not the intended
recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please
notify the sender immediately and destroy
all copies of this message and any attachments contained in it.