30 agreements signed between India and Russia in a day

India and Russia inked 30 deals on Tuesday. The most important pacts were to help India develop its own missiles and jointly design and develop fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

“Long before other countries it was Russia which helped us in the development of our scientific and industrial base. I am, therefore, happy we have renewed the integrated long-term technology programme with a mandate to establish an innovation-based technology partnership. In the field of defence cooperation, we reviewed ongoing projects,” prime minister Manmohan Singh told the media.

There was memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and India’s department of atomic energy for joint research and development in reactor technology and related fields for peaceful uses of atomic energy.

“Discussions have progressed on the construction of additional Russia-designed nuclear reactors at Kudankulam [in Tamil Nadu], and we have signed an agreement to broaden scientific and technical cooperation in the field of nuclear energy,” Manmohan said.

As part of another important agreement, Russia will provide access to GLONASS high precision navigation signals. GLONASS is the Russian rival of the US global positioning system.

These systems allow users to determine their positions within a few metres. The pact widens India’s strategic options in the sense its naval vessels or submarines won’t be dependent on one system of satellites for navigation in the high seas. Russia has 26 GLONASS satellites in orbit.

However, Manmohan was particularly happy with the inter-governmental agreement on cooperation in oil and gas. The agreement provides a framework for cooperation between ONGC Videsh and JSFC Sistema for undertaking joint hydrocarbon projects.

The deal is a big step for ONGC towards strengthening its foothold in Russia, the world’s biggest energy exporter.