Even as ramping up bilateral trade and civil nuclear energy supplies remained focus of the India-Russia talks, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday raised New Delhi’s concerns on the sale of MI-35 helicopters to Pakistan by Moscow with the visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dimitry O Rogozin.
In the first high-level talks between India and Russia after the NDA Government came to power, that lasted for about four hours, Swaraj protested over the sale of choppers which Pakistan is negotiating with Russia. Foreign ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said that the issue of helicopter sale figured in the context of their defence cooperation talks.
According to Akbaruddin, the talks otherwise focussed on ways to harness the untapped potential of bilateral trade in sectors like hydrocarbons, nuclear energy, fertilisers, cooking coal and diamonds.The present trade figure between the two nations is $10 billion: The Russian exports amount to $6.5 billion while Indian exports are at $3.5 billion. The two countries will conduct a joint feasibility study on free trade customs union between India, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
India also raised the issue of increasing business visas for its entrepreneurs. India is eyeing Russian investment in Indian infrastructure projects. “The idea was to sensitise Russia about opportunities in India,” Akbaruddin said.
Swaraj updated Rogozin on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant that has been set up by Russia. The first unit of the plant attained full capacity on June 7 while the second unit was to attain criticality at the end of the year. India and Russia signed an agreement in April this year for building units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant after Russia in-principle agreed to the Indian nuclear liability law.