Moscow’s a tried and tested friend: PM

In Moscow, the PM will attend the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Soviet victory over Nazi forces in WW-II. Singh said he looked forward to meeting the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Romania, formerly part of the Soviet Union.

Significantly, while the celebrations will be attended by 56 heads of states, Putin will hold one-on-one discussions with only a select few, including Manmohan Singh, George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Singh will meet Putin on May 9 after witnessing a military parade and a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The PM’s trip to Moscow follows a visit by Putin to New Delhi in December last year for the fifth Indo-Russian Summit. While Russia lauded the recent visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to New Delhi, Singh is likely to give Putin a detailed description of the interaction. Discussions on Russia’s support for a permanent berth for India in the expanded UN Security Council are also likely.

While defence and strategic affairs have dominated relations between the two countries, when Putin visited along with his Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, discussions included a WTO confidentiality agreement, a pact on intellectual property rights, information technology cooperation, banking and energy. An External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said on Saturday that the PM’s discussions with Putin were likely to cover all of these.

The joint declaration made on December 3 last year affirmed both countries’ understanding on energy, the UN, the war against terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, the situation in Central Asia and Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict and Afghanistan respectively. The two sides also signed ten pacts during Putin’s visit.

The PM’s visit will not see the signing of any agreements as it is not a bilateral visit in the true sense, the MEA spokesperson said.