The Hindu : National : India, Russia sign seven agreements

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 18, 2006

National

National

India, Russia sign seven agreements

Diplomatic Correspondent

ISRO, Russian space agency to develop navigation satellites

— Photo: V.V. Krishnan

STRATEGIC PARTNER: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Fradkov prior to a meeting in New Delhi on Friday. Mr. Fradkov, who described his visit as successful, said he hoped to carry forward strategic partnership.

NEW DELHI: India and Russia signed seven agreements on Friday, including one between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) on the joint development of Glonass-K navigation satellites during the visit of Premier Mikhail Fradkov.

The ISRO also signed another agreement with the ROSCOSMOS to launch Russian navigation satellites Glonass-M by a variant of the Indian GSLV.

The Indian Oil Corporation and Russian joint stock company Stroytransgaz signed a Memorandum of Understanding for pursuing petro-infrastructure projects (for design and construction of pipelines, gas and oil storage facilities) worldwide jointly through a consortium.

The EXIM bank agreed to open a 100 million dollar line of credit with Russian Vneshtorg Bank. Another pact on cooperation was signed between the ICICI Bank and Vnesheconom Bank.

According to the External Affairs Ministry spokesman, the long tradition of high-level political interaction, frequent commercial, scientific and cultural exchanges and defence cooperation between the two countries provided a valuable base to further strengthen the strategic partnership.

The Russian spokesman said the deals recognised India's growing energy requirements and supported its economic development.

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