Vladimir Putin calls Manmohan Singh to discuss upcoming India visit

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin today had a telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh and discussed with him the agenda for his forthcoming India visit.

Putin, who is scheduled to visit New Delhi in March, called Singh to discuss his upcoming trip, the first as prime minister of Russia.

"Putin and Singh in their telephonic conversation expressed satisfaction at high dynamism in bilateral trade and economic relations in spite of global recession," Russian PM's spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by ITAR-TASS.

Russian vice premier Sergei Sobyanin, Moscow's India pointman is going to New Delhi next week to finalise Putin's agenda with external affairs minister SM Krishna, who is co-chair of Indo-Russian Inter-governmental Commission (IRIGC).

According to sources Sobyanin could finalise several key defence agreements, including commercial contracts for the joint development of fifth generation fighter and multirole transport aircraft for signing, at the time of Putin's India visit in the middle of March.

Singh, who visited Russia in December last year, had invited Putin to India.