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Opening remarks by Prime Minister of India
Dr. Manmohan Singh at the Joint Press Interaction with the President Putin
(Moscow; November 12, 2007)
This is the eighth annual summit between India and
Russia and my fourth visit to Russia as Prime Minister. I am truly
delighted to be back in your beautiful country. Let me thank you, Mr.
President, for the warm reception and hospitality accorded to me and my
delegation.
I am extremely satisfied with my discussions with President Putin. They
were characterized by warmth, cordiality and unanimity on all issues of
mutual interest. There has been substantial forward movement on many of
the issues that we had discussed at our last Summit in January. We held
wide-ranging discussions and identified areas for further cooperation
between our two countries.
I also had a useful and productive exchange of views with Prime Minister
Zubkov.
We discussed ways to substantially upgrade our economic ties, which should
form the bedrock of our strategic partnership. We agreed that there are
enormous opportunities for collaboration.
We discussed the recommendations made by the Joint Study Group and the
establishment of a Joint Task Force to implement them.
I am happy that we have been able to satisfactorily resolve the long
pending issue of the utilization of the rupee debt fund. We also agreed to
redouble our efforts to achieve a bilateral trade target of 10 billion US
dollars by 2010.
I will be meeting the captains of Russian industry and a high-level Indian
business delegation later in the evening. I will urge them to invest more
in this relationship.
High technology is an area of great promise. Our cooperation is symbolized
by the agreement on Chandrayan II, which will include a joint mission to
the Moon involving an orbiter, a lander and a rover to carry out
scientific studies.
We continued our dialogue on energy. I thanked the
President for Russia’s steadfast support in supplementing our nuclear
energy programme, and its assistance in lifting international restrictions
on nuclear cooperation with India that are still in place.
Defence cooperation is one of the pillars of our strategic partnership.
Our decision on the co-development and co-production of the Fifth
Generation Fighter and the Multi-role Transport Aircraft are major steps
forward.
We had a constructive discussion on regional and global issues. There is a
mutuality and convergence in our interests. We highly value Russia’s role
in international affairs and its global leadership on key issues.
Our two countries are preparing enthusiastically for the “Year of Russia
in India” in 2008 and “Year of India in Russia” in 2009. We wish to
showcase the new Russia in India and the new India in Russia. I have
invited both the President Putin and the Prime Minister Zubkov to India.
Ours is a strategic partnership that has stood the test of time. Through
our discussions today we have consolidated and strengthened our engagement
in different areas. I am very satisfied with the results of my visit.
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