Narayanan confident of Russia's support in NSG

On Board Air India One, Jan 13 (UNI) National Security Adviser M K Narayanan today expressed confidence that Russia would try and seek exemption for India from the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to enable full international cooperation with India in the area of civil nuclear energy.

Russia is an important member of the 45-member NSG. "Ultimately, we hope all 45 members will support us," Mr Narayanan told journalists accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Cebu in Phillipines for the 5th India-ASEAN Summit and the 2nd East Asia Summit over the next two days.

Mr Narayanan returned to Delhi last night after a two-day visit to Moscow during which he held talks with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov.

The talks were aimed primarily at preparing for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Delhi later this month for summit-level talks with Dr Singh. Mr Putin will be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade on January 26.

Mr Narayanan said Russia was fully aware of the details of the India-US Civil Nuclear deal and the progress made so far in implementing the agreement.

UNI