Russian President Vladimir Putin waves on his arrival at AFS Palam in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI)
New Delhi:
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi late night on Wednesday for annual summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled for today.
The talks are aimed at building on the already close strategic ties, particularly in the fields of nuclear energy, hydrocarbons and defence.
Mr Putin, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation that included business tycoons, was received by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan among other dignitaries.
After the talks at Hyderabad House, the two sides are likely to ink 15-20 pacts.
The talks at the highest level have been taking place since 2000 alternately in Moscow and New Delhi. In his talks with PM Modi, both in restricted and delegation level formats, Mr Putin is likely to seek deeper economic engagement with "time-tested" ally India to try to minimise the impact of sanctions against Russia by the US and its Western allies over the Ukraine issue.
It will be the first annual summit meeting between Mr Putin and PM Modi. The two leaders had met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil in July and during the G-20 summit in Australia last month.
Ahead of his visit, Mr Putin termed ties with India as "privileged strategic partnership" and said construction of new nuclear plants besides military and technical cooperation was high on the agenda for talks.
He said Russia was keen to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India and involve Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) in oil and gas hunt in the Arctic.
Energy-starved India, which is the third largest oil importer after the US and China - has been pushing for greater involvement in major gas and oil exploration projects in Russia and both the leaders are set to discuss the issue.
Russia is one of the top oil producers globally and has huge reserves of natural gas.
In the nuclear energy sector, Russia may offer to set up a total of 20-24 nuclear energy production units in India against previously agreed 14-16 plants. Both sides are also likely to come out with a roadmap for cooperation in the overall energy sector.
Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin said the two countries will start negotiations for setting up of units five and six at the Kudankulam nuclear power complex soon and may sign a technical pact for units 3 and 4 during Mr Putin's stay in New Delhi.
The talks are aimed at building on the already close strategic ties, particularly in the fields of nuclear energy, hydrocarbons and defence.
Mr Putin, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation that included business tycoons, was received by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan among other dignitaries.
After the talks at Hyderabad House, the two sides are likely to ink 15-20 pacts.
The talks at the highest level have been taking place since 2000 alternately in Moscow and New Delhi. In his talks with PM Modi, both in restricted and delegation level formats, Mr Putin is likely to seek deeper economic engagement with "time-tested" ally India to try to minimise the impact of sanctions against Russia by the US and its Western allies over the Ukraine issue.
It will be the first annual summit meeting between Mr Putin and PM Modi. The two leaders had met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brazil in July and during the G-20 summit in Australia last month.
Ahead of his visit, Mr Putin termed ties with India as "privileged strategic partnership" and said construction of new nuclear plants besides military and technical cooperation was high on the agenda for talks.
He said Russia was keen to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India and involve Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) in oil and gas hunt in the Arctic.
Energy-starved India, which is the third largest oil importer after the US and China - has been pushing for greater involvement in major gas and oil exploration projects in Russia and both the leaders are set to discuss the issue.
Russia is one of the top oil producers globally and has huge reserves of natural gas.
In the nuclear energy sector, Russia may offer to set up a total of 20-24 nuclear energy production units in India against previously agreed 14-16 plants. Both sides are also likely to come out with a roadmap for cooperation in the overall energy sector.
Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin said the two countries will start negotiations for setting up of units five and six at the Kudankulam nuclear power complex soon and may sign a technical pact for units 3 and 4 during Mr Putin's stay in New Delhi.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world