Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in India to sign a clutch of multibillion-dollar arms deals, said Friday it was time for the old Cold War allies to boost trade beyond the limited scope of defence.
At just over 7.5 billion dollars in 2009, bilateral trade turnover is minuscule and the two countries aim to lift it to 20 billion dollars by 2015.
"There is the political will on both sides, but we need support from the captains of industry," Putin said during a live webcast with leading Indian businessmen and cultural figures.
"We should think about the future," Putin said, stressing the need for commercial ties to move beyond arms sales -- Russia is India's biggest supplier -- into areas such as energy, banking and information technology.
"Cooperation in hi-tech is the priority for us," he said. "The Russian government is ready to directly support this activity, with the help of additional financial assistance, if need be."
According to Indian officials, energy is emerging as a focus between oil and gas-rich Russia and energy-starved India, always on the lookout for new fuel sources to power its growing economy.
Indian foreign ministry official Ajay Bisaria noted that New Delhi had invested 2.8 billion dollars in an oil field on Sakhalin island off Russia's east coast and was in talks with energy firms Rosneft and Gazprom for more blocks in north Russia.
"India has had an energy strategy of investing in equity in that region and this continues," Bisaria said.
Russia is expected to begin construction soon of a nuclear power facility in the eastern India state of West Bengal and Friday's visit is set to result in another deal for at least two reactors in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Russia is already building two reactors there.
"This is one of our most important and promising areas of cooperation," said Putin, who acknowledged growing competition to provide nuclear energy to India after it sealed a landmark deal with the United States in 2008.
The agreement allowed India access to civilian nuclear energy despite its refusal to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Putin was scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh later Friday and sign more than a dozen arms and energy pacts worth around 10 billion dollars.
The deals include an accord to resolve the sale of a refitted Soviet-era aircraft carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov, as well as 29 MiG fighter jets.
The sale of the Admiral Gorshkov has been marred by a series of price disputes and delayed deliveries, fuelling concerns in Moscow that India could be tempted to end its dependence on Russian military equipment.
Putin's foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said the new accord would "suit both sides" and help put the dispute behind them.
Russia supplies 70 percent of India's military hardware but in recent years New Delhi has looked to other suppliers including Israel and the United States.
The strong ties between Moscow and New Delhi date back to the 1950s after the death of Stalin. But India has in recent years also taken care to balance this friendship by fostering closer relations with Washington.
Copyright 2010 AFP South Asian Edition
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