No n-deal, but PM thanks Putin

He said that despite a Memorandum of Intent being signed in January, the agreement for Russia building four additional reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu had also been put on hold, and could only be described as 8220;work in progress.8221;

The two countries had earlier completed all formalities for the Kudankulam agreement to be inked during the current summit.

When questioned about the timeline for India approaching IAEA to get the restrictions lifted, Dr Singh admitted that coalition compulsions had bogged down the government8217;s schedule.

8220;This is a subject matter for discussion with our coalition partners. The process of arriving at a broad national consensus is still on,8221; he said.

With the Moscow summit 8212; the eighth between the two countries 8212; robbed of the chance to be the culmination point of a landmark civilian nuclear agreement, the focus shifted to improving bilateral trade and accelerating co-operation in space technology and defence.

The two countries have set a trade target of 10 billion to be achieved by 2010. A task force has been set up to examine an earlier report on how to improve commerce and trade.

Among the agreements signed in the presence of the two leaders at the Kremlin was one on a joint 8220;moon exploration8221; project to be called Chandrayan-11. G Madhavan Nair, Secretary of the Department of Space, who was in Moscow to sign the agreement told The Indian Express that the idea behind the ambitious joint collaboration was to launch a orbiter, lander and rover on the moon by 2011. The spacecraft, Nair said, would be in orbit for about a month.

A crucial agreement for the development and production of the Multi Role Transport Aircraft MRTA was also signed. It is understood that despite their earlier reservations, the Russian side had, during pre-summit meetings, agreed to buy a substantial number of the transport aircraft.

On the defence front, several other irksome issues, such as the escalation rate for earlier deals was increased from 2.3 per cent to 5 per cent the Russians had been demanding 18 per cent and thus, it was clarified, the issue or issues like the delay and cost escalation for aircraft carrier Gorshkov did not have to figure in talks between the two leaders.

Other agreements include one for utilisation of rupee debt funds for Russian investments in India as well as one on cooperation to combat illicit trafficking in narcotics and psychotropic substances.

With the prime minister spending just about 24 hours in Moscow and apparently anxious to return to New Delhi where a crucial Parliament session is commencing, the Moscow summit was virtually a one-day bilateral meet.

After restricted meetings with Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, Dr Singh attended a luncheon banquet in his honour and addressed members of Moscow8217;s business community.

He used the summit was used as an occasion to invite President Putin to New Delhi for the opening of the 2008 Year of Russia in India, which, it was announced, the president accepted.

But Putin8217;s term ends early next year and Dr Singh8217;s term is fraught with uncertainties over continuing support from his coalition partners. Thus, even as the eighth Moscow engagement ended, both leaders must wonder who will it be who will walk up to attend the Ninth Indo-Russian summit?