From the NYTimes:”
India and Russia renewed their long-standing close ties during annual talks on Saturday, signing a slew of cooperation agreements and discussing misgivings about recent irritants in their decades-long relationship.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meeting in the beach resort state of Goa in western India, discussed regional security issues and the threats posed by global terrorism. But they also spent considerable time on talks to stem the drift in their ties as India engages more closely with the United States.
Putin and Modi jointly unveiled an e-plaque to mark a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the next phase of a nuclear power plant that Russia has built in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This would be the third and fourth phases of the Kudankulam nuclear power station, part of 12 nuclear plants that Russia is building in India. The two leaders pressed a button to remotely unveil by video link the plaque, which will be erected at the site of the nuclear plant.
The two leaders also witnessed the signing of nearly 20 agreements relating to the joint production of military hardware, space exploration, energy cooperation and the upgrading of India’s aging railway network.
India and Russia have shared a close relationship that dates back to the days of the Cold War, when the United States tilted toward Pakistan, India’s neighbor and archrival. India had to depend on Russia for political support as well as the supply of billions of dollars’ worth of military hardware. Even today, nearly 70 percent of India’s defense equipment has been procured from Russia, according to India’s Defense Ministry.
But as India’s economic clout has grown, it has also diversified its defense shopping, with major purchases of military hardware from the United States, Israel and France.
India is one of the world’s biggest arms importers, with an economic boom that has enabled it to modernize its military. New Delhi needs everything from fighter aircraft to submarines, as part of a $100 billion modernization of its military hardware.
Russia’s concerns that India was looking elsewhere to upgrade its defense forces were assuaged by several deals that were concluded on Saturday.
”
More at the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/10/15/world/asia/ap-as-india-russia.html
