PM Manmohan arrives in Moscow

Moscow, Nov 11: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Moscow this evening at the start of his two-day visit, which will take his summit-level talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin forward.

During his visit, ways to improve bilateral trade, expand energy cooperation and fine-tune defence ties are expected to be outlined in several bilateral pacts to be signed by the two sides.

In particular, the focus will be on upgrading the predominant buyer-seller relationship between India and Russia in the defence sector to a new level of joint partnership for co-developing state-of-the-art future weapon systems.

Earlier, before his departure from New Delhi, Singh said that India's "multifaceted bilateral cooperation" with Russia is based on long-term interests, and the strategic partnership between New Delhi and Moscow is an "enduring bond of friendship, which has strong historical roots."

Singh said that India's relations with Russia have traditionally been a factor of peace and stability in the region and beyond.

"I am convinced that the strong fundamentals of mutual trust and a shared world view on regional and global issues would continue to bring our two countries closer together in a dynamic international environment," he said.

ANI>