India, Russia ink civil nuclear, defence pacts

India and Russia inked several pacts including on civil nuclear cooperation and supply and joint development of military hardware during a hectic day-long visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to New Delhi on Friday.
Russia will build up to 16 nuclear reactors at three locations in India, Russia’s deputy premier Sergei Ivanov, who accompanied Putin, told reporters. Russia is competing with French and American firms for lucrative contracts to build nuclear power plants for energy-hungry India because Asia’s third-largest economy needs to boost its supply to help sustain rapid economic growth.
Setting the tone for Putin’s one-day visit, mainly aimed at keeping one of the world’s biggest arms importers interested in Russian weapons, the erstwhile Cold War allies are also trying to strike an agreement on joint output of the fifth-generation fighter jet. Russia will build more than 1,000 stealth fighter jets within four decades, including at least 200 for its traditional weapons buyer India, the CEO of Russian plane maker Sukhoi, Mikhail Pogosyan, told reporters on the sidelines of Putin’s visit. Pogosyan also said he expected a joint venture with the state-run Indian company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to manufacture around 200 fifth-generation fighter jets.
Russia and India also signed a contract worth 1.5 billion US dollars on Friday for Moscow to supply 29 MiG 29 K fighters, Pogosyan said. Russia would deliver the long-delayed refurbished Gorshkov aircraft carrier to India by the end of 2012, added deputy premier Ivanov on an issue that has troubled relations between the two powers. Putin’s visit is likely to have produced deals worth more than 10 billion USD mainly in defence contracts, nuclear reactors and trade.
Putin denied a deal with Pakistan was on the cards on the lines of the nuclear power pact with India.Many countries of the world do not have any nuclear technical cooperation with Pakistan because we are concerned for our Indian friend. We sincerely count that our joint work, our efforts to counter-terrorism will produce positive substantial results in benefit of the two countries, he said. The two countries also agreed to strengthen cooperation in hydrocarbons through greater collaboration between oil and gas companies, but did not announce any firm energy deals.