Russia, India set for long-term N-partnership: Russian media

Vinay Shukla

Moscow, Dec 8 (PTI) Russia and India are on the way to
becoming long-term nuclear trading partners and orders for
civilian reactors would keep Moscow's nuclear industries
running for the next 10-15 years.
Promising civilian nuclear cooperations would now
become the main stay of Indo-Russian relations, the Russian
media has proclaimed, in significant comments on the just
concluded summit between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and President Dmitry Medvedev.
India signed a path-breaking civil nuclear agreement
with Russia Monday that will guarantee uninterrupted
uranium fuel supplies for its atomic reactors and transfer of
technology and also inked three military pacts.
The new nuclear agreement and the pact to continue
defence cooperations between the two countries for another 10
years, the media said, indicated that the Soviet-era close
relationship between the countries had not weakened under the
unipolar world.
Russia could build up to 20 civil nuclear reactors in
India under a path-breaking atomic agreement signed between
the two countries, the chief of RosAtom State Corporation
said.
"Russia could build up 20 reactors for nuclear power
plants worth dozens of billion dollars," Sergei Kiriyenko,
chief of RosAtom, told reporters here.
Noting that Russia would be the first country to
capitalise on the end of the ban on nuclear trading with
India, 'Moscow Times' said: "The Kremlin won a coveted
agreement with India to boost cooperation in the civilian use
of nuclear technology".

The local media welcomed that the vexed issue of
Gorshkov aircraft carrier is out and the promising civilian
nuclear cooperation is becoming a mainstay of Indo-Russian
relations.
Critical of the long delay in the delivery of the
aircraft carrier Gorshkov, the Times said it was timely that
the two countries had come over what it called this irritant
in otherwise close defence collaboration and ties.
The government daily 'Rossiskaya Gazeta' said "the two
leaders have dotted the 'i' on Gorshkov issue".
Another influential daily "Nezavisimaya Gazeta' in its
article 'Russian-Indian breakthrough' also notes that the
finalisation of parameters of 'Admiral Gorshkov', the irritant
in bilateral relations for some time, was the main outcome of
the Moscow summit.
The government daily 'Rossiskaya Gazeta' singles out
the intergovernmental agreement on civilian nuclear
cooperation as the "most important", although India and Russia
signed no less important agreements on extending their defence
cooperation programme and after-sales servicing and product
support of the Russian origin military hardware.
In its article 'Aircraft Carrier Taken out of Talks',
leading business daily 'Kommersant' also notes that the
parameters of "Gorshkov' refit were finalised. It stressed
that India had reacted with "pain" at the Russian demand for
extra money for already signed contract.
Another business daily published 'Vedomosti',
published jointly by the Financial Times and Wall Street
Journal, notes the importance of civilian nuclear deal, which
would also keep the Russian nuclear industry running for at
least another 10-15 years. PTI VS