Asia

Asia

Russia, India sign nuclear deals

21 December 2010 18:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The deal came during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s two-day visit to India, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Medvedev also signed a series of defense agreements worth billions of dollars in a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Russian president has also struck a deal with India on jointly developing a new generation of fighter jets over 10 years.

Indian and Russian officials also signed a protocol in New Delhi on Monday, agreeing to boost bilateral trade to $20 billion by 2015 and strengthening their "strategic partnership."

Medvedev is also meeting ruling Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and several other senior Indian officials in New Delhi.

This is Medvedev’s second official visit to India. The first one was in December 2008.

The military deals are expected to raise concerns for India’s arch-rival Pakistan.

India and Pakistan have occasionally tested conventional and unconventional weapons since their independence in 1947.

New Delhi and Islamabad have refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and other international regulatory pacts that restrict the development or testing of nuclear weapons in their country.

New Delhi and Moscow were allies during the Cold War and India has traditionally bought many of its arms from Russia.

Moscow is already building two nuclear plants in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.