Monday, December 07, 2009

DTN News: India, Russia Sign New Arms Sales Deal

DTN News: India, Russia Sign New Arms Sales Deal *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - December 8, 2009: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Dec. 7, as the two countries signed deals on nuclear energy and arms sales. India and Russia signed a raft of agreements, including one on cooperation in civilian atomic energy and another on the arms trade, after the two leaders held talks at the Kremlin, Russian news agencies reported. "We welcome Russia's participation in the broadening of our nuclear energy program," Singh said at the televised signing ceremony, according to remarks translated into Russian. "The successful end of the negotiations on the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the peaceful use of atomic energy is a major step forward," he added. "We are both of the opinion that our relations have very much potential," Medvedev said. Ahead of Singh's visit to Moscow, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said India and Russia had been trying to put together an agreement that would broaden a nuclear fuel import pact. The pact would guarantee unhindered supply of uranium for Indian reactors and the right to reprocess spent fuel, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency quoted unnamed officials as saying. Russia is already building two nuclear power units in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and has agreed to install four more nuclear reactors there as part of an agreement signed during Medvedev's visit to India last year. Russia's state-owned nuclear power firm Rosatom could build up to 20 nuclear power units in India in all, including four to six in the state of West Bengal, the ITAR-TASS state news agency reported, citing the company's chief. "These are not just billions, these are tens of billions of dollars" worth of contracts, Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko said, quoted by ITAR-TASS. Details on the Indian-Russian arms agreement were not reported, but Russian news agencies said Moscow and New Delhi had ended a spat over India's purchase of a retired Soviet aircraft carrier, citing a source close to the talks. The 44,570-ton warship Admiral Gorshkov, has yet to be delivered amid delays and cost overruns in its refurbishment. India's plans to acquire it have turned into a headache for New Delhi, with Moscow in 2007 demanding an additional $1.2 billion to cover repairs of the 30-year-old ship. "In matters relating to the contract, everything is settled, the parameters have been determined and a final decision has been made," a source close to the Kremlin talks told the Interfax and RIA-Novosti news agencies. Singh was due to meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later Dec. 7.

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