VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Russian-Indian relations are based on the 1993 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and the 2000 Declaration of Strategic Partnership. There have been high-level meetings between the two countries every year since 2000.
Russian President Putin visited India in October 2000, December 2002, December 2004 and January 2007. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paid a state visit to India in December 2008.
In September 2009, Indian President Pratibha Patil arrived in Russia for a state visit, followed by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December 2009.
Russian-Indian relations have advanced significantly in 2009. Despite the global economic crisis, from January to September 2009 trade between Russia and India grew 7.7% compared to the same period for the previous year, and is expected to reach about $8 billion at the end of the year. Russian exports to India (primarily power generating equipment, industrial machinery, fertilizers, ferrous metals and ferrous metals products) increased 17%, reaching $4.07 billion, while imports from India (pharmaceuticals, agricultural products, foodstuffs, machinery and the equipment, vehicles, tools and textile products) fell 17.9%, to $1.04 billion. The 15th session of the intergovernmental commission predicted that trade would reach $20 billion by 2015.
Increased cooperation in nuclear power is an important priority. An intergovernmental agreement calling for cooperation in peaceful nuclear energy was paraphed in December, 2009. The agreement provides for the eventual large-scale production of reactors based on Russian designs.
High-level, bilateral energy talks are ongoing. One concrete results of this dialogue has been the Indian state-owned corporation ONGC's involvement in the development of the Trebs and Titov oil and gas fields and fields on the Yamal Peninsula. In early 2009, ONGC bought Imperial Energy's assets in the Tomsk Region, and in October 2009, chief minister Narendra Modi led a delegation of Gujarat business leaders on a visit to Russia to participate in the International Energy Week.
As a result of long-term negotiations between the veterinary and phytosanitary services of the two countries, memoranda were drafted and signed in 2009 authorising the import of Indian animal and plant products to Russia.
In December 2009, Vnesheconombank and the Indian Defence Ministry negotiated for the restructuring of outstanding Indian debt due to government loans from Russia (around $73 million). The two sides signed working protocols expediting the settlement of this issue.
There has also been increased the investment use debtfunds. . AFK Sistema, which invested debt funds worth of 2.1 billion Indian Rupees in the joint telecommunications company Sistema Shyam Teleservices Ltd. in 2008, is expanding its presence in India (an MTS network is already serving 14 states). In 2009, the Russian company KAMAZ Foreign Trade Company began investing debt funds(227.93 million rupees).
Russia and India cooperate in military technology and hardware in many areas, including Russia's supplying arms and spare parts to India, modernisation of previously supplied military hardware and licensing various Russian military technologies for manufacture. Joint long-term projects are an important component of bilateral relations, and in December 2009 Russia and India signed a programme for military technology cooperation until 2020.
As a part of this military cooperation, the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky visited the port of Marmagao (Goa) in January 2009, and the INDRA-2009 joint Russian-Indian naval exercises were conducted in the Arabian Sea in the same month. In June 2009, the Indian frigate Beas visited St Petersburg.
The cornerstone in Russian-Indian cultural cooperation in 2009 was the Year of India in Russia. Ties between the two countries' film industries were strengthened, and Russian Film Week became an important step in creating a fruitful dialogue in the field of culture and art.
During his visit to India in November 2009, Sergei Sobyanin awarded prominent Indian public figures the Order of Friendship and Alexander Pushkin medals.
There were also several events held in honour of the 135th birthday of Nicholas Roerich and the 105th birthday of Svetoslav Roerich.
Moreover, Russian language and literature have recently become noticeably more popular. Some 450 students are enrolled in classes at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in New Delhi.
The Delhi Association of Russian Compatriots has also undergone a renaissance.
In 2009, 101 political and 346 cultural events were held through Rossotrudnichestvo, the Federal Agency for CIS Affairs, Russian Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation, 128 of which were connected with the Year of India in Russia.
Finally, Russian-Indian scientific and technological cooperation remained a pillar of bilateral intergovernmental relations in 2009. The Comprehensive Long-term Programme for Science and Technology, which currently focuses on strengthening the emerging trend of concentrated intellectual resources, increasing the use of applied technology and fostering cooperation in the hi-tech field, played a key role in this process.
