Russian President Putin Interview on Eve of India Trip: `Nuclear Energy Is One of the Pillars of Our Strategic Partnership`
EIRNS—In a Dec. 9 interview with the Press Trust of India, prior to his Dec. 11 summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the longstanding "strategic partnership" between the two nations, and repeatedly emphasized that "nuclear energy cooperation is one of the pillars of our strategic partnership."
In response to a question, Putin elaborated:
"A particular emphasis should be made on the development of high-technology areas of cooperation, namely nuclear energy, military and technical cooperation, space research, aircraft and automobile production, pharmaceuticals industry, chemical industry, information technologies and nanotechnologies... Joint strategic projects include the construction of new units for Indian nuclear power plants, promotion of Russian Sukhoi Superjet-100 and MS-21 aircraft to the Indian market, introduction of the GLONASS system in the sectors of the Indian economy."
He also stressed the importance of joint military projects such as the production of high-precision BrahMos missiles.
In a part of the interview that the Obama State Department will surely find particularly odious—given spokesperson Marie Harf’s earlier threats to India to not dare sign any substantial economic deals with sanctioned Russia—Putin stated:
"Our resources enable us to build up to 25 energy units in India. According to experts, however, even these units may not meet the needs of [the] dynamically developing economy of India. This is why we intend to discuss the prospects for further development of our cooperation in the domain of nuclear energy during the upcoming meeting with Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. The policy document ’Strategic Vision of the Strengthening Russian-Indian Cooperation in the Field of Peaceful Uses of the Atomic Energy’ is also being prepared to be signed. Alongside with new energy units’ construction, it provides for the exchange of the results of activities in the field of science, technology and innovation."
Putin also suggested that, in order to increase trade between the two countries, both members of the BRICS,
"the issue of a possible transition to payments in national currencies is also quite relevant."
