13th India-Russia Annual Summit

The President of the Russian Federation, H.E. Mr. Vladmir V.Putin, paid an official visit to India for the Annual Summit between two countries. During the meet the Prime Minister of India and the President of the Russian Federation stressed the importance of further enhancing the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries. The two leaders reviewed the progress made in all important areas of cooperation, including in sectors such as energy, trade, high technology and military-technical cooperation. India and Russia moved to strengthen their economic ties by inking a pact on a Kremlin-backed $2 billion investment fund and agreeing to open talks on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that will also involve Belarus and Kazakhstan. Following documents were signed during the meet: a) Protocol on Foreign Office Consultations 2013-14: The Protocol is an instrument to continue the tradition of close political consultations between the two Foreign Offices. The current Protocol outlines seventeen different broad themes for such exchanges. The bi-annual Protocol mechanism enables frequent contacts and promotes broad-based understanding between the various wings of the two Foreign Offices. b) Memorandum on Cooperation in Science & Technology: The Memorandum shall facilitate deepening cooperation in the field of innovation and S&T, through implementation of joint programs or projects involving educational, R&D and industrial institutions. It also stipulates formation of a Working Group to implement the provisions of this MoC. c) Cultural Exchange Programme for the Years 2013 – 15: The document envisages enhancing bilateral cultural contacts through exchanges in performing arts, films, archives, museums and conservation, literature and language and through organization of reciprocal Festivals. It is in continuation to the previous CEP 2009-12. It also aims to preserve and promote the legacy of the Roerich Estate in Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), an important icon of cultural cooperation between the two countries. d) Memorandum of Understanding to Promote Direct Investment between Russia and India: MoU envisages investments upto US$ 2 billion in important bilateral projects or companies, privatization and other opportunities. RDIF is a US$ 10 billion sovereign-backed Russian private equity fund established by the Russian Government to co-invest alongside global institutional investors. Since its inception in 2011, it has led investments totaling US$ 1.5 billion in Russian companies together with some of the largest asset managers in the world. e) Memorandum of Understanding for Satellite based navigation services: The MoU envisages a pilot project to assess the usage of the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS – the Russian equivalent of GPS) using the capabilities of BSNL/MTNL ground infrastructure. Success of the pilot project may provide insights for wider applicability of GLONASS signals in the future in areas such as disaster management, telephony and long-distance communications. f) Contract for Delivery of 71 Mi-17V-5 helicopters: An order for procurement of 59 Mi-17 v5 MLH was agreed to in Feb 2010, which was subsequently increased to 71. The current contract is in context of the order. g) Contract for Delivery of 42 technological kits for SU-30MKI aircraft licensed production: The Protocol-II on licensed manufacturing of additional 42 SU-30MKI aircraft units was signed during Annual Summit 2011. The current contract is a follow up to this Protocol. However, there was no substantial progress on issues of discord-delay in commissioning aircraft carrier Gorshkov, stalemate on clinical trials in Russia, applicability of the Nuclear Limited Liability Act to six new reactors to be put up by Russia at Kudankulam, inability of Russian companies Sistema and Severstal to move ahead with their investment plans in India and the tax imposed on Imperial Energy, an Indian company operating in Russia.