Russian president arrives in India

New Delhi, Dec 4 : Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in India on Thursday on a three day visit aimed at bolstering ties in defence and nuclear energy.

Medvedev was due to have dinner with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh before holding a full day of high level meetings on Friday. He is scheduled to leave on Saturday morning.

During his visit, Medvedev will have summit talks with Dr. Singh.

Besides meeting other Indian leaders, he is scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Closer bilateral interaction in combating international and cross-border terrorism is expected to top the agenda of his talks in New Delhi.

Several documents are likely to be signed during his visit.

India and Russia are likely to sign a deal for the construction of four additional nuclear reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, as well as a pact for expanding activities at other sites.

The two countries could also sign an agreement to supply Russian nuclear fuel to Indian nuclear power plant as per an agreement signed in February this year.

Russia and India have seen a growth in bilateral trade this year, which increased in the first nine months of 2008 by 41.6 per cent to 3.8 billion dollars year-on-year.

ANI