President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin paid a state visit to India on 4-5 December for the 23rd Annual India-Russia Summit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The two leaders reaffirmed their support for further strengthening the special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia during their bilateral meetings, the government said in a press release.
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This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between India and Russia, which was adopted during Putin’s first state visit to India in October 2000.
The leaders emphasized the special nature of this long-standing and time-tested relationship characterized by mutual trust, mutual respect for each other’s core national interests and strategic convergence, according to a joint statement issued after the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit at Hyderabad House.
Here are the top 10 points from joint statement:
1- The leaders positively assessed India-Russia’s multifaceted mutually beneficial relations covering all areas of cooperation, including political and strategic, military and security, trade and investment, energy, science and technology, nuclear, space, cultural, educational and humanitarian cooperation. The leaders agreed to make every effort to unlock the full potential of the strategic partnership.
Business and economic partnership
2- The leaders reaffirmed their shared ambition to expand bilateral trade in a balanced and sustainable manner, including increasing India’s exports to Russia, strengthening industrial cooperation, establishing new technology and investment partnerships, especially in advanced high-tech areas, and finding new avenues and forms of cooperation.
The leaders welcomed the adoption of the Program for the Development of Strategic Areas of Economic Cooperation between India and Russia by 2030 (2030 Agenda).
Leaders appreciated the continued intensification of joint work on a free trade agreement in goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of common interest. They also ordered both sides to step up efforts in negotiating a mutually beneficial investment promotion and protection agreement.
3- The two sides emphasized that addressing tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, removing logistics bottlenecks, promoting connectivity, ensuring smooth payment mechanisms, finding mutually acceptable solutions to insurance and collateral issues, and regular interaction between businesses of the two countries are among the key elements for the timely achievement of the revised bilateral trade target of US$100 billion by 2030.
The parties welcomed the signing of agreements on the mobility of skilled workers.
4- Leaders highlighted the importance of productive and mutually beneficial bilateral trade in mineral resources, including energy resources, precious stones and metals, as well as critical raw materials for the reliability of international supply chains. Effective cooperation in this area, carried out by Russia and India as sovereign states, is an important part of their national security and social well-being.
Energy partnership
5- The two sides discussed and appreciated their broad cooperation in the energy sector as an important pillar of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. They also highlighted the importance of speedy resolution of issues related to investment projects in the area and agreed to resolve various issues faced by their investors in the energy sector.
Transport and connectivity
6- The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in building stable and efficient transport corridors with a focus on expanding logistics links to improve connectivity and increase infrastructure capacity, promote the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor (Eastern Sea) and the Northern Sea Route. They welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on specialist training for ships operating in polar waters.
Civil nuclear cooperation, cooperation in space
7- The two sides confirmed their intention to expand cooperation in nuclear energy, including fuel cycle, operational life cycle support of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) and non-energy applications, as well as develop a new interaction agenda in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy and related high-tech technologies.
Military and military-technical cooperation
8- Military and military-technical cooperation has traditionally been a pillar of the special and privileged strategic partnership between India and Russia, which has grown from strength to strength through several decades of joint efforts and fruitful cooperation led by the IRIGC-M&MTC.
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The two sides agreed to support the joint production of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products in India for the maintenance of weapons and defense equipment of Russian origin under the Make-in-India program through technology transfer and establishment of joint ventures to meet the needs of the Indian Armed Forces, as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
Cultural cooperation, tourism and people-to-people exchanges
9. Both sides appreciated the continuous increase in tourism exchanges between Russia and India and welcomed the simplification of visa formalities, including the introduction of electronic visas by both countries. They agreed to continue working on further simplification of the visa regime in the future.
The leaders positively assessed the multifaceted mutually beneficial India-Russia relations, which encompass all areas of cooperation.
10- Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation in combating such common challenges and threats as terrorism, extremism, transnational organized crime, money laundering, terrorist financing and illicit drug trade.
