The Hindu : Putin arrives for talks with Vajpayee

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 04, 2002

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Putin arrives for talks with Vajpayee

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI Dec. 3. A heavy bilateral and multilateral agenda awaits the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, who arrived here this evening from Beijing as part of annual, summit-level consultations with the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. He was received at the airport by the Minister of State for Personnel and Minister-in-Waiting, Vasundhara Raje Scindia.

This is Mr. Putin's second visit to India in two years. He will be received at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan by the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, tomorrow morning. Soon after arrival, Mr. Putin had an informal meeting with the Prime Minister, who hosted a private dinner for the Russian President. A similar courtesy was extended to the Russian President two years ago by the Prime Minister.

The Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, and the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, were among those invited for the dinner.

The Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi, was also invited, but she could not attend it because of her campaigning in Gujarat.

To boost trade between the two countries — currently less than $1.5 billions a year — Russia and India will issue a declaration on expanding cooperation in trade, economic, scientific and technological fields.

The two countries are also expected to sign a "Delhi Declaration'' on further strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on counter terrorism, which envisages setting up a joint working group between the two countries, will be among a host of agreements that will be signed tomorrow.

Iraq is expected to be a major item for discussion between the Russian and Indian leaders. That issue is likely to find reflection in the declaration that is to be issued.

Defence cooperation is part of the continuing agenda of bilateral relations and will come up for review.

Mr. Putin has a busy day ahead of him tomorrow. After paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, there will be separate calls on him by the External Affairs Minister, the Vice-President, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Defence Minister. After addressing a lunch meeting organised by CII and FICCI, Sonia Gandhi will call on him. He will then have a formal one-on-one meeting with the Prime Minister at Hyderabad House, which will be followed by delegation-level talks.

The signing of agreements at Hyderabad House will be followed by a brief interaction with the press. Dr. Abdul Kalam will host a state banquet in Mr. Putin's honour.

The Russian leader is scheduled to depart from New Delhi on Thursday morning.

Mr. Putin, accompanied by his wife, has Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Rushailo, the Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, the Deputy Head of the President's Administration, Sergei Prikhodko, the Industry, Science and Technology Minister, Ilya Klebanov, the Atomic Energy Minister, L. Rumyanstev, the Information Technology Minister, Reirman, as part of his delegation. Representatives from key Russian companies, banks and financial institutions also accompany Mr. Putin.

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