Russia-India relations have never been susceptible to momentary developments like change of government, President Vladimir Putin declared today on the eve of his two-day visit to Delhi when the two countries are expected to scale up their strategic cooperation in nuclear, military and technical fields.
Ahead of his first interaction with the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Thursday, he also sought to dispel any concerns in India of Moscow's tilt towards Pakistan in military cooperation. He suggested that it was only aimed at improving effectiveness of counter-terrorism and anti-drug operations.
Russia, a stable and all-weather friend of India, awaits the decision of the Indian government to allot a site for construction of a new Russian designed nuclear power plant while documentation to start construction of the second stage of Kudankulam nuclear power plant has been nearly finalised.
The visit will also see the two countries seeking to iron out differences in military projects like the much-delayed joint multi-billion dollar Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project.
Moscow is looking at joint strategic projects including construction of new Indian nuclear power plants, promotion of Russian Sukhoi Superjet-100 and MS-21 civilian aircraft to the Indian market, helicopter manufacturing, creating a smart-city and setting up industrial corridors.
"Relations between Russia and India have never been susceptible to momentary developments. At all historic times regardless of political and public leaders, our countries remained reliable partners in deepening our multi-faceted cooperation," Putin told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit beginning tomorrow.
He covered a wide range of subjects that included energy cooperation, bilateral trade and other ties.
