PM Modi to leave for Russian Federation today for 16th Annual Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday left on a two-day visit to Moscow during which he will attend the 16th India-Russia annual summit.

Russian Federation has pulled India into the middle of its diplomatic joust with Turkey over a downed military plane, offering New Delhi early access to sectors of its economy earlier dominated by Ankara, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow on Wednesday. Before leaving for Russia, PM Modi said that he is very optimistic on his visit. Both countries will also attempt to increase cooperation in science and technology, mining among other sectors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Modi will be holding their bilateral meeting on December 24.

“Then the prime minister would be addressing a gathering of the Friends of India and the Indian community at the Expo Centre in Moscow”, the foreign secretary said. “Russia has been India’s foremost defence partner through decades, accounting for a majority of our defence equipment…” Currently, bilateral investments are about $11billion, with India looking to increase it up to $30 billion by 2025.

The “spade work” for the summit talks have been done by the Inter-Governmental Commission and the Military Technology Commission of the two countries which met separately, recently.

At a time when pollution in cities has become a hotly debated topic, prototype of India’s first retrofitted electric bus was showcased on Monday here in the capital.

“The study for that has been completed on our side”, the foreign secretary said. We work together in a number of global forums, including BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (where Russian support helped in a decision on India’s full membership this year), G 20 and East Asia Summit. A Russia-designed nuclear power plant in Kudankulam, near the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent, is already operational, and the Indian media has widely reported that an agreement to add two more reactors to the facility will be signed during the summit.

In another significant deal for India, it will jointly manufacture 200 Kamov-226T helicopters with Russian Federation.

The big announcement during Mr. Modi’s visit would be the purchase of five S-400 Triumf air defence systems by India, expected to cost about United States dollars 5-6 billion.

Modi also praised Putin saying he has provided “excellent leadership to Russia” and one who is “willing to sacrifice to maintain relations”. Indian Oil Chairman B. Ashok and Oil India Chairman U.P. Singh will accompany Modi, the companies’ spokesmen said on Tuesday.

Noting that India is home to people from all major faiths of the world, 22 official languages and diverse cultures and ethnicities, the Prime Minister said, “Yet, there is a strong sense of unity across our diversity”. “So, expanding trade is a very big priority”, he said.