India-Russia Summit: 16 Key Agreements Signed

PM Narendra Modi on his maiden visit to Russia has given a fresh amount of diplomatic touches to the bilateral relationship between the two counties. The main outcome of this summit is that 16 key agreements have been signed in the areas of defence, nuclear energy, technology and others.

Another key outcome of this summit is that Russia plans to build at least six nuclear plants in India in the next 20 years along with offering important deals like the jointly producing BrahMos missiles and the Kamov-226 fighter jets, an impeccable boost to the central government’s Make-in-India initiative.

India on the other has extended its hands to top Russian companies to invest in Indian infrastructure, aerospace sectors and business sectors as present Indian business environment seems to be favourable for investment. A programme of action has been agreed between India’s Department of Atomic Energy and the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) to localize manufacturing of Russian-designed nuclear reactor units in India. This thus gives significant amount of importance to Russian nuclear imports in India apart from the US and Israel.

As reported earlier, both New Delhi and Moscow have common agendas towards global counter-terrorism and at the United Nations as well, both country have a strong equal understanding, the same they share in BRICS, East Asia Summit, G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. India has long considered Russia to be a ‘reliable friend’ so President Putin has stated that Russia strongly supports India’s bid for a permanent membership at the UN Security Council saying that India is a ‘deserving and strong candidate” that could bring an “independent and responsible approach” within the organization.

A joint statement revealed that both the countries are keen to strengthen their cultural cooperation by organizing a Russian cultural festival in India in 2016. Also, the two countries asserted on the need of deepening cooperation in the information sphere as well with memorandum of understanding (MoU) being signed between Russian state-owned broadcaster VGTRK and Prasar Bharati to exchange news and other content.

Source: HT