Excellency, President Vladimir Putin,
Distinguished Members of the Russian Delegation,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press.

President Putin is visiting India as part of our well-established practice of Annual Summits between our two countries. His current visit is of special significance, as he is the Chief Guest at our Republic Day Celebrations. We hold President Putin in high esteem, as a world leader and as a special friend of India. It therefore gives me great pleasure in extending him a very warm welcome.

Our discussions today were extremely useful and productive, and confirmed, once again, that our strategic partnership is based on a deep convergence of our vital national interests.

Though there has been a sea-change in the international situation during the last decade, Russia remains indispensable to the core of India’s foreign policy interests. Building on the long tradition of warm and friendly relations with Russia, we seek a comprehensive re-engagement that would impart new momentum and carry our strategic partnership to new heights.

Energy security is the most important of the emerging dimensions of our strategic partnership. Russia’s position as a global leader on energy issues is widely recognized. We look forward to long-term partnership with Russia in this vital field.

We appreciate Russia's support in lifting international restrictions on nuclear cooperation with India and in assisting us in the expansion of our nuclear energy sector. We have today signed a Joint Declaration on cooperation in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy. Our growing cooperation is manifest in the Protocol of Intent we have signed on construction of additional units at Kudankulam.

Both of us agreed that our economic relationship is far below what is consistent with the demands of our strong strategic partnership and the growth profiles of both India and Russia. The Joint Study Group is exploring possibilities for charting out a path for comprehensive economic cooperation and we have agreed to expedite its work.

We have had comprehensive discussions on our expanding defence relationship. Our defence ties have steadily progressed to include new areas such as joint research and development, manufacturing and marketing, regular service to service interaction and joint exercises. Our cooperation in the joint development of the Multi-Role Transport Aircraft and our interest in such cooperation in the development of the Fifth Generation Fighter are significant developments.

We decided to give a boost to our cooperation in high technology sectors including space, science and technology and information and communication. This is manifest in the signing of additional bilateral agreements to jointly implement wide ranging cooperation in the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS)

Mr. President, we see your visit, as a landmark and as one laying the foundation for renewed engagement between our two countries and charting the course of our relations in the years to come. Let me extend to you, once again a very warm welcome and request you to address the media.

Thank you.
New Delhi, 25 January 2007

 

 

Transcript of the Joint Press Conference of President of Russian Federation H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on 25th January 2007

(New Delhi, January 25, 2007)

Rajeev Sharma : Some years ago, Russia had taken a lead, in trying to form a trilateral axis with China and India. Now what is the status of this trilateral axis? And how do both of you react to January 11 test launch by the Chinese of anti satellite missiles?

President Vladimir Putin: Today the PM and I discussed the cooperation in trilateral format. We did not go into great detail. We stated that this was a useful format. You have probably read reports by international study groups and international research centres that focus on investment issues. According to their estimates in the forthcoming decade, India, Russia, China and Brazil will account for quite a significant portion of the world’s economic activity and they will attract quite a lot of international investment. Naturally cooperation with such countries as India, Russia and China should be harmonious and we should seek ways towards ensuring such cooperation. In addition, what brings us together is our desire to address regional issues in matters that would be acceptable to all the three sides. Therefore, we believe that the work in the trilateral format is promising. Now as far as the tests that have taken place in People’s Republic of China the fundamental position of the Russian Federation is that the outer space should be absolutely weapons free. However, I like to note that People’s Republic of China is not the first country to conduct such tests. As far as I am concerned, the first such test was conducted in the late 1980s. In addition to that, we can hear from military circles in United States that their plans to try to weaponise outer space. We should not let the genie out of the bottle. And this is our position.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh: Well President Putin has already mentioned the working of the trilateral cooperation and when I was in St Petersburg a few months ago as guest of President Putin the President of China, President Putin and myself held a very useful discussion and next month the Foreign Ministers of Russia, China and India would be meeting to explore further avenues of working together to make success of this trilateral forum. As far as the weaponisation of outer space is concerned, our approach is also similar. That we are not in favour of weaponisation of outer space.

Russian journalist: Thank you very much. I have two questions. My first question is to the Russian president. What do you think will be the priority areas that we should focus in our cooperation in the forthcoming two years. Will those areas be dominated by politics or economics? And my question to the Prime Minister is the following: What do you think about the possibilities of investing India’s debt to Russia in the Indian economy and which particular sector would benefit from such investment?

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh: As far as investment of Rupees accumulating in the debt are concerned, we have agreed to use these for expanding areas of cooperation to launch joint ventures in Medium term transport aircraft is one such joint project, the Titanium di oxide manufacture is another project. In the same way we will and can identify new joint ventures for the utilization of this rupee accumulation.

President Vladimir Putin: Will there be more politics or more economics? We are totally aware of the fact that without political support it is absolutely impossible to cooperate in the economic area. However, the high level of political trust between the two countries should be converted to great level of economic interaction. Therefore I believe that it is the common sense will dominate in the coming years. And on this basis of which we will seek to harmonise the political aspect of our cooperation as well as the economic content of our interaction. And we have outlined the business component of our cooperation. And here we should mention the following, energy, hydro carbons, their exploration, prospecting, production and transport; then nuclear energy; and the political component plays quite a role in this section. These include our joint efforts within the frame work of Nuclear Suppliers Group, the IAEA and other international frameworks. And also these include our direct and practical cooperation in Kudankulam and possibly on other sides as well. And transport and communication in the broadest sense of the words; And our traditional trade items, investment; of course, military technology cooperation and culture. This is good enough for the beginning. Thank you.

[Note : H.E. President Vladimir Putin’s replies are based on Russian interpreters translation]
New Delhi
25th January 2007

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