Vajpayee's visit to Russia will be a milestone, says Putin

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, AUG. 27. The Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, said the coming visit of the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to Russia must become a milestone in bilateral relations.

``We are due not only to check on progress in executing the agreements reached in October 2000 (during Mr. Putin's visit to India), but also look for new long-term fields of further developing the Russian-Indian strategic partnership,'' the RIA- Novosti news agency quoted the Russian President as saying after accepting credentials from India's new Ambassador to Russia, Mr. Krishnan Raghunath, in the Kremlin on Monday.

In what is seen as a token of special respect for India, the Kremlin arranged for Delhi's new Ambassador to present his credentials on his first working day in Moscow. Mr. Raghunath arrived on Saturday. By comparison, the U.S. Ambassador, who arrived over a month ago, is yet to present his credentials. Envoys from China, Colombia, Uruguay, Denmark, Brunei, Slovenia and Iceland also presented their credentials today.

In a one-to-one conversation after the presentation ceremony, Mr. Putin told Mr. Raghunath that the Russian Government was keenly looking forward to Mr. Vajpayee's visit and that there was quite an agenda to be fulfilled by the two leaders. Mr. Raghunath conveyed best wishes to Mr. Putin from the Prime Minister and the President of India. Both sides reaffirmed the importance they attached to bilateral ties.

Talking to correspondents Mr. Raghunath said the tempo of Indo- Russian cooperation had accelerated after the two countries signed a Declaration on Strategic Partnership last October. In particular, trade and economic ties, which used to evoke a sense of dissatisfaction, had expanded and diversified. The Ambassador made special mention of India's biggest ever foreign investment in Russia's Sakhalin-1 project as well as the growing cooperation in atomic energy, space and defence. Also, in the framework of their strategic partnership, Moscow and Delhi had opened a professional-level strategic dialogue on a range of issues, including terrorism and global security.

Mr. Raghunath said his top priorities in Moscow would include tapping the vast potential for economic and scientific- technical cooperation between India and Russia. In the run-up to Mr. Vajpayee's visit to Moscow there will be high-level interactions between the two countries in telecommunications and information technology, as well as political consultations.

Mr. Raghunath, a career diplomat, had served as India's Ambassador in the Philippines, Nigeria, and Bangladesh. He was Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs in 1995-97 and Foreign Secretary in 1997-99. In Moscow, he succeeds Mr. S. Lambah, who retired last month.

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Section  : International
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