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Putin eyes arms, nuclear deals with old ally India
MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin heads to India Thursday for a visit aimed at tightening the close arms and energy partnerships that Moscow and New Delhi have enjoyed since…
MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin heads to India Thursday for a visit aimed at tightening the close arms and energy partnerships that Moscow and New Delhi have enjoyed since the Soviet era.The highlight of the two-day visit is expected to be the signing of several military agreements, including a deal on a Soviet-era aircraft carrier whose troubled history has raised fears over the future strength of relations."The signing of a number of concrete documents, including in the military sphere, is expected," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP. He declined to provide further details ahead of Friday's signing.A spokesman for Russia's state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, Vyacheslav Davidenko, confirmed to AFP that several arms deals were expected, including on the Admiral Gorshkov, a Soviet-era aircraft carrier sold to India and being refurbished by a Russian firm.The sale has been marred by a series of price disputes and delayed deliveries, compounding concerns in Moscow that India could be tempted to end its dependence on Russian military equipment.Russia supplies 70 percent of India's military hardware but New Delhi has in recent years also looked towards other military suppliers including Israel and the United States."Putin is keen that pending issues should be resolved," an Indian government source told AFP.Tatyana Shaumyan, head of the Centre of Indian Research at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Oriental Studies, said that for the visit to be successful Russia would have to iron out all remaining sticking points related to the sale of the Admiral Gorshkov."We need to think really hard about how we can honour our obligations," Shaumyan said.Russian business daily Vedomosti, citing a defence ministry official and a source close to Rosoboronexport management, has reported that officials had hoped to sign three military agreements worth some 4 billion dollars.These were for the refurbishment of the Admiral Gorshkov, worth 2.35 billion dollars; a 1.2-billion-dollar contract to
last modification 2010-03-10 07:00:01
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