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“Russia stood by India when friends were few”
October 21, 2013, 8:10 am

India and Russia have voiced common concerns on volatility in Afghanistan post the 2014 NATO pullout as well as a strict opposition to foreign military interference in the Syrian crisis [Indian External Affairs Ministry]

Singh said that India and Russia have built a sound partnership befitting challenges of the modern age [Indian External Affairs Ministry]

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said that the programme of cooperation in hydrocarbons that Delhi and Moscow are drawing up will further intensify Indo-Russian partnership in oil and gas and renewable energy sectors.

The prime minister was addressing the Moscow State Institute of International Relations on Monday.

Singh said that India and Russia have built a sound partnership befitting challenges of the modern age.

“Russia has stood by India at moments of great international challenge, when our own resources were limited and our friends were few. Russia offered us partnership in nuclear energy when the world still shunned nuclear commerce with us,” said Singh.

Singh also stressed that at the regional and global level, India and Russia share many equities.

India and Russia have voiced common concerns on volatility in Afghanistan after the 2014 NATO pullout as well as a strict opposition to foreign military interference in the Syrian crisis.

In what was a first for an Indian, Singh received an honorary doctorate at Moscow State Institute of International Relations on Monday.

Singh is slated to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin later today.

“We are going to review progress in our partnership in atomic energy, defence, space cooperation, trade and investment,” Singh had said after landing in Moscow on Sunday.

“Every visit to Russia reaffirms to me the abiding comfort and confidence that mark our relationship,” he added.

India and Russia share traditionally close ties marked by deepening cooperation in defence and space collaborations. India is also one of the top buyers of Russian weapons.

The two sides will sign five agreements at the India-Russia Annual Summit on Tuesday.

Moscow is the first stop of Singh’s two-nation tour that will also take him to Beijing on October 24.

The BRICS Post