India’s Modi calls Russian President Putin after US trip
June 12, 2016, 5:52 am

“There are those who think something, but say something else. This I have not experienced with President Putin,” Modi said during his visit to Moscow in December 2015 [Xinhua]

Modi initiated the phone call, the Kremlin press service said.

“The discussion focused on practical issues of the two countries’ cooperation, including preparations for the top-level contacts to be held shortly,” said a statement posted on the Kremlin website.

“The leaders reaffirmed their determination to further bilateral relations, which are a privileged strategic partnership,” it added.

While the Indian Prime Minister was in Washington earlier this week, the two sides announced they have agreed to move ahead with the construction of six nuclear reactors in India by an American company.

Once underway, this would be the first Indo-US commercial agreement since the countries signed a civil nuclear deal in 2005. A Reuters report quoted a Westinghouse Electric spokesperson as saying “negotiations continue” on building the six nuclear reactors in India.

India has announced plans to build 40 nuclear reactors, in addition to the existing 22, in the next two decades. Russia is planning to build 20 reactors in India. Russian state nuclear company Rosatom would look at “localization of manufacturing in India for Russian-designed nuclear reactor units” according to a press statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

In talks with Putin on Saturday, Modi offered his best wishes on Russia Day.

Almost ninety per cent of India’s military arsenal is Russian equipment. In the past couple of years, the US is playing catch up trying to displace Russia from the top spot.

New Delhi has also recently increased foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence to 49 per cent.

Meanwhile, Russian oil firm Rosneft, in March this year, signed a set of documents on selling stakes in Russian oil fields to Indian firms.

India’s ONGC will increase its stake in Rosneft’s Vankor project to 26 per cent while Oil India, Indian Oil and Bharat PetroResources will buy up to 23.9 per cent between them in the same field.

During Modi’s Moscow visit in December, the two BRICS allies inked 16 cooperation agreements, including in the sector of nuclear energy, hydrocarbons, solar energy, railways and visas.

India had earlier backed what it describes as “legitimate Russian interests in Ukraine” after Russian accession of Crimea that resulted in Western sanctions against the country.

Modi will host Putin in India in October during the 8th BRICS Summit in the western Indian state of Goa.

TBP