Russia hopes for 'fruitful' summit

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, JULY 14. Moscow will welcome any agreements that may emerge from the India-Pakistan summit, the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, said.

``We have a vital interest in the summit bearing fruit and will support any agreements that may be reached between the leaders of the two countries,'' he said at an informal meeting with foreign correspondents in Moscow on Friday.

``We have repeatedly come out in favour of India and Pakistan normalising their relations and resolving their problems through bilateral talks and political dialogue,'' Mr. Ivanov said. ``We greet the resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan. This is important by itself and is also crucial for the region in view of the nuclear factor and the situation in Afghanistan.''

He said Russia was not offering any solutions of its own for the Kashmir problem and was not seeking any intermediary role for itself, unless asked by India and Pakistan.

``We see our role in promoting the beginning of a bilateral dialogue.''

Speaking about Russia's relations with India, Mr. Ivanov stressed their ``long-term strategic character'' and said bilateral ties were ``on the upswing along all azimuths''. He described the coming visit of the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, to Russia in November as ``a major landmark''.

``We have mapped out some important economic projects in the power sector and industry and hopefully we can prepare a number of serious documents for the summit.''

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Section  : International
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