MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax-AVN) - A visit to Russia that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is beginning on Tuesday is the main event in Russian-Indian relations in the current year, a source in the Russian presidential staff said.
"The visit is expected to help further strengthen strategic partnership between Russia and India and further develop the interaction of the two countries in key areas of bilateral cooperation and in international affairs," the source told Interfax.
"A substantial set of documents" was to be signed during what will be this year's third meeting between Vajpayee and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the source said.
He mentioned the Sakhalin 1 oil project in Russia, in which an Indian company is involved, the construction of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in India, and offshore oil prospecting in the Gulf of Bengal.
He said military and military industrial cooperation was one of the key components of Russian-Indian relations and that a large-scale Russian-Indian naval exercise in the Indian Ocean in May this year "marked a new moment in strengthening the strategic partnership of the two countries."
There are also international problems to be raised at the summit. "It is planned to put the main emphasis on the unification of efforts by the world community with the aim of creating a global system of action against new challenges and threats," the source said.
The two countries will consider closer cooperation in combating terrorism, drug traffic and other security threats.