India, Russia ink $30bn mily deals

Fighter jets, nuclear energy

NEW DELHI: Russia and India Tuesday signed a pact worth up to 30 billion dollars on the development of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft and agreed to pursue a deal to build two Russian nuclear reactors.

The agreements surrounded talks in New Delhi between visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, during which both sides set a target of doubling bilateral trade to 20 billion dollars by 2015.

Medvedev arrived in India on Tuesday, seeking to fend off growing international competition for lucrative Indian defence contracts that were once monopolised by Moscow.
His trip capped a flurry of top-level diplomatic activity that has seen the leaders of all five permanent members of the UN Security Council beat a trade-focused path to India’s door over the past six months.
British Prime Minister David Cameron was here in July, and US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have passed through over the last six weeks. -APP

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