Upswing in Indo-Russian relations at Moscow summit

New Delhi: India and Russia will seek to rejuvenate a relationship, which for the most part of a decade and a half has remained listless, with Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev engaging each other at a summit meet at the Kremlin on 7 December. On the cards is an expanded civil nuclear cooperation agreement as well as an extended defence cooperation pact.

Sources indicate that next week's Moscow summit may well result in Russia supplying as many as 10-12 nuclear reactors to India over the coming decade.

It is also being let known that the vexing issue of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier refit costs may still elude resolution, and await a visit by Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin to New Delhi in the first half of March 2010 for final settlement.

Besides these big-ticket items, a joint declaration between the two sides envisaging a political partnership is also on the cards.

Sources indicate that the number of Russian nuclear plants to be built at Kudankulam in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, may go up from four to six. Two nuclear plants, of 1,000 Mw each, are already in the final stages of construction and testing and are likely to go on stream very soon.

With likely new agreements the total number of reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear park is may well go up to eight.