In Russia, PM Modi likely to discuss nuclear energy, Syria and terror

(THETIMESOFINDIA)WhiletherehasbeensomespeculationrecentlyoverRussia'spositiononexpansionofUNSecurityCouncilpermanentmembership,IndiasaidonTuesdayitdoesn'tdoubtMoscow'scommitmenttosupportingIndia'sbidforthesame.

AheadofPrimeMinisterNarendraModi'stwo-dayvisittoRussiafortheannualsummitwithPresidentVladimirPutin,thegovernmentsaidthe2countrieswere"time-tested"partnerswithgreattrustandconfidenceineachother."WedonotatalldoubtRussia'scommitmenttoseeIndiaasapermanentmemberoftheUNSC,"saidforeignsecretarySJaishankar.

TheIndia-RussiasummithasbeentakingplacealternatelyinMoscowandNewDelhisince2000.Whilethetwocountriesareexpectedtosignanumberofagreements,includingindefenceandnuclearenergy,thesituationinSyriaandinternationalterrorismareotherissueslikelytobediscussedindetail.

JaishankarsaidbothIndiaandRussiabelievedthattheSyrianissuecouldberesolvedthroughpoliticalanddiplomaticmeans.IndiabelievesthereisnoreasontobelievethatRussianairstrikesarenottargetingIslamicState.

"Weexpecttosignanumberofagreementscoveringaverybroadrangeoffields.Finaltouchesarebeinggivenonsomeofthem,"Jaishankartoldreporters.Hesaidexpandingeconomictieswouldbea"verybigpriority"asthetwocountrieswereaimingatenhancingannualbilateraltradeto$30billionoverthenext10yearsfromcurrent$10billion.

OnwhetherIndiawillrequestRussiatosharedetailsonNetajiSubhasChandraBose,hesaidtheissuehadfiguredduringexternalaffairsministerSushmaSwaraj'srecentvisittoMoscow."Let'swaitandseewhathappens.IwillnotprejudgetheRussianresponsetillwegetit,"hesaid.

AskedwhetherIndiawassupplyingthreeMi25helicopterstoAfghanistanthroughRussia,theforeignsecretarysaid,"TechnicallythesewerenotRussianacquisition.Whatyouarereferringto,Iassumeanythingthatwewouldlookatwithanycountrywouldbesomethingwhichwewouldlookatfromourresources."