OREANDA-NEWS. April 16, 2010. The two leaders discussed development of the Russian-Indian strategic partnership and examined bilateral cooperation issues.

Mr Medvedev said that he plans to visit India this year. Mr Singh said that this visit would provide a good opportunity for Moscow and Delhi to review the progress made so far in carrying out their respective obligations.

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Mr Prime Minister, colleagues,

At this late hour in Brazil and early hour by Moscow time, I offer my warmest greetings and want to say that today’s event, the BRIC summit, would not be complete if we did not have the chance to discuss our bilateral relations too. We have accomplished a fair amount of late and we think this is a very good sign for the future development of our strategic partnership with India. Our bilateral contracts have already been quite active this year with our prime minister’s visit to India and the signing of a whole series of important agreements. But we have more meetings planned for the months ahead, and will see each other at international events and during my upcoming visit to your country.

I hope that we will succeed in maintaining our relations at the required level and increase our cooperation accordingly. We have a very big agenda before us, and I think there is no need right now to list all of the items on it. Once again, I greet you, Mr Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA MANMOHAN SINGH (translated from Russian): Mr President,

India and the Russian Federation have special and unique relations. Over these years you and Prime Minister Putin have both cultivated these relations and developed them to maturity. Today, these relations have the support of all of Indian society. Indian public opinion and political opinion support the friendliest of ties with Russia. This is something very close and very important for my government. 

We have no unresolved bilateral issues between us. We look forward to your visit to India at the end of this year as a chance to review the progress made so far on carrying out our reciprocal commitments. 

Prime Minister Putin came to India and we had a broad exchange of opinions and signed agreements, including in the nuclear sector. We also approved a roadmap for developing nuclear installations that will be built with Russia’s help. We discussed cooperation in the space sector and laid a solid base for this work together. We think this is an important matter, Mr President. As for hydrocarbons, this is another area in which we think we could advance a little faster.