Picture : Twitter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held the India-Russia annual summit after which eight pacts, including on cooperation on India’s ambitious human space mission project Gaganyaan, were signed. Further cementing it’s ties and taking the bilateral relations to new heights.
The two countries also signed the USD 5 billion S-400 air defence system deal after talks between the two leaders in Hyderabad House.
India wanted the long-range missile systems to tighten its air defence mechanism, particularly along the nearly 4,000-km-long Sino-India border.
S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia in 2014 to procure the lethal missile system.
Addressing a joint press meet with President Putin. Watch. @KremlinRussia_E https://t.co/Ybc7EU67AF
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 5, 2018
Talks with President Putin have given new direction to the bilateral strategic partnership, Modi said in a press statement after the 19th India-Russia annual summit.
Pacts were also inked in the fields of space, nuclear energy, railways and space. A crucial MoU was signed between Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Federal Space Agency of Russia ‘ROSCOSMOS’ on joint activities in the field of human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan.
India and Russia are committed to cooperating in the fight against terrorism, Modi said.President Putin said the two countries have agreed to step up cooperation in combating the menace of terrorism and drug trafficking.
The latest Modi- Putin summit , was the third meeting between Modi and Putin this year after an informal meeting in the Russian resort city of Sochi in May and a bilateral on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa in July.
