India, Russia to support joint high-technology industrial projects

Russia President Vladimir Putin on Thursday stated that New Delhi and Moscow will put in a greater effort in supporting joint high-technology industrial and scientific projects, also pointing towards the great strides in development made by both sides in defence cooperation.

"As far as the bilateral relations are concerned, we agreed to put in more efforts in supporting joint high-technology industrial and scientific projects. We will facilitate the establishment of an Indian operator of mobile communications. It is with interest that we regard the Indian initiative of creating an industrial corridor between New Delhi and Mumbai which provides for creating up-to-date infrastructure and establishment of innovation enterprises," President Putin told the media after holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Russia and India have been long cooperating in the military and technical field and I refer not just to the supply of ready-made products. We have reached the level of a close production cooperation the implementation of the missile programme BrahMos is a testimony to that. I'd like to say that there are other projects such as joint development of the multi-functional jet-fighter and the multi-port role transport aircraft is another stride in our cooperation," he added.

The Russian President also identified the diamond trade as a potentially key sector in furthering trade relations between New Delhi and Moscow.

"As Prime Minister Modi mentioned, diamonds is also another area of cooperation as Russian company Alrosa is the largest miner of diamonds in the world, while India is the world's leader in processing diamonds. This visit is going to give impetus to further strengthening the multi-faced relations between both countries," he said.

Speaking of humanitarian aid given by India and Russia, President Putin further stated that the two sides are in favour of resolving the terse situation in Syria and Iraq.

"We have accumulated good traditions in the field of humanitarian ties. Last year, 11 Russian cities saw the festival of Indian culture and it was a success. This year we are celebrating the festival of Russian culture in India. We have placed a particular emphasis on international issues. We are in favour of working together to resolve the situation in Syria and Iraq and to stabilise the affairs in Afghanistan and will advocate a new security and cooperation architecture in Asia. We are willing to continue to coordinate closely our work in the UN and BRICS," he said.

"We are highly appreciative of the friendship, trust and mutual understanding with India and we are going to do everything in our power to develop a Russian-Indian partnership for the sake of our two great nations," he added.