Medvedev greets President, PM on Republic Day

New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) Russian President Dmitry Medvedevtoday greeted President Pratibha Patil and Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on the ocassion of Republic Day assuring them asteady advance in bilateral relations.

"Kindly accept my sincere congratulations on the nationalholiday � the Republic Day," Medvedev said in separate lettersto Patil and Singh.

"May I express my conviction that in 2011 through jointefforts we will keep up the steady advance of multidimensionalRussian-Indian partnership for the benefit of the peoples ofour countries and in the interest of strengtheninginternational stability and security," he wrote.

Medevedev noted that the people of Russia and India havebeen traditionally building their relations on the basis offriendship, mutual trust and respect.

"Ten years ago our countries signed the declaration ofstrategic partnership. Since then we have managed to scoregreat achievements and above all � to reach a qualitativelynew level of privileged strategic partnership," he said.

Observing that the two countries have established closecoordination in foreign policy approaches, Medevedev said"business ties, aimed at modernisation of national economiesand adoption of high technologies, are in full swing".

Humanitarian contacts and personal interaction between ourcitizens were also progressing, he said.

Recalling his his visit to India, he said summit talks inNew Delhi last December highlighted the special character ofthe bilateral relations.

"The agreements, resulting from the talks and related tothe implementation of large-scale joint projects in the fieldof energy, military and technical cooperation, medicine andtelecommunications, have become a new important milestone inbroadening the entire spectre of our constructiveinteraction," he said.