New Delhi, Apr 6 (UNI) India and Russia on Tuesday agreed on investing more in each other's economy and and launch additional production of Russian military equipment in India.
External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in 'comprehensive and productive" talks here assesed "positively" the two-way economic cooperation and noted the new opportunities in the Russian Far East.
The negotiations between the two Special Strategic Partners focused on energy, space, transport and infrastructure projects, and plans to boost bilateral trade and to jointly produce modern weapons.
The two top diplomats also discussed connectivity through the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor and the North-South Transport Corridor, and cooperation in the space, nuclear and joint arms production.
Delegation-level talks were held between the two countries that covered preparations for President Vladimir Putin's visit to India for the delayed Russia-India summit this year.
India-Russia ties are characterised by consistent ability to identify and update shared interests.
Following the ministerial meeting and delegation-level talks, Jaishankar said India-Russia ties are characterised by consistent ability to identify and update shared interests.
"Our bilateral cooperation remains energetic and forward looking...We have found an appetitie for greater investment in each other," he said, addressing a joint presser.
"We have discussed the prospects for defence cooperation, including the joint production of advanced weapons in India," added Lavrov. "We are the only country that actually provides India with advanced defence technologies. We are confident that efforts to boost Russian-Indian defence cooperation are in line with the national interests of both countries."
As another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the world, Lavrov said Russia is not ruling out the possibility to produce an Indian vaccine against the coronavirus on its territory.
"As for vaccines, we have really close contacts with our Indian friends... I do not rule out that further cooperation will include production of an [Indian] vaccine on the Russian territory, I think experts should discuss it and be guided by the maximum possible effectiveness of such cooperation," Lavrov said.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund has signed contracts with several Indian contracting agents for producing the Sputnik V vaccine in the total amount of 700 or 750 million doses. This becomes possible thanks to India's capacities.
The two sides also discussed regional security and political issues such as Afghanistan and Mayanmar.
"Larger backdrop of global political changes provided the context," Jaishankar said, adding that the agenda included Afghanistan, West Asia, the Gulf, Myanmar, ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific and UN Security Council issues.
"We exchanged opinions on key modern problems and acute regional problems, and realized that our approaches either coincide or are close. We discussed the peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, the Syrian crisis, the situation around the Iranian nuclear programme, and the situation in Myanmar," Lavrov said.
He said Russia hoped that the 2020 peace deal between the United States and the Taliban movement will be fully implemented.
"We hope that the agreements that were concluded between the United States and the Taliban will be implemented, because really, at the time, everyone talked about this, it created a chance for an agreement between all the warring parties. It will be regretful if they collapse," Lavrov said.
At the same time, Lavrov stressed that Russia respected India’s right to diversify its ties.
UNI SRJ