India and Russia on Friday vowed to elevate their strategic ties as they signed a long-pending agreement for construction of four nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu and decided to step up cooperation in the fields of defence, space, trade and commerce.After wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev here, the two sides also signed a pact under which India will receive 80 MI-17 helicopters and discussed ways to resolve the ‘outstanding issues’ which are holding transfer of aircraft carrier Gorshkov and nuclear-powered submarines to New Delhi.The two leaders also discussed the problem of terrorism in the backdrop of Mumbai attacks and Medvedev promised to work with India, using ‘all avenues’ and extending all possible assistance to deal with the situation.The highlight of the talks was the signing of the agreement under which Russia will build four nuclear reactors in Koodankulum in Tamil Nadu and more at yet-to-be-identified places, in addition to two existing ones."The signing of the agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with Russia marks a new milestone in the history of our cooperation with Russia in the field of nuclear energy," Singh told a joint press conference with Medvedev after the talks.
