India signed Monday a landmark broad-based agreement with its traditional ally Russia in the civil nuclear field that would ensure transfer of technology and uninterrupted supply of uranium fuel to its nuclear reactors.
The deal commits Russia to transfer technologies of nuclear- enrichment and reprocessing to India. It also gives New Delhi the right to reprocess spent fuel, going "far beyond even the 123 agreement" signed with the U.S.
Under the agreement, Russia may build up to 20 civil nuclear reactors in India worth dozens of billion dollars.
Russia, which is currently completing two 1,000-VVER light- water reactors at Kudankulam in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, will be building at least four more reactors at the same complex. A site in Haripur, in the eastern Indain state of West Bengal, has been chosen for the fifth reactor.
The two countries also inked three pacts in the defense sector, including that for ending adhocism in servicing Russian military equipment, besides pacts on culture, energy and trade.
The agreements were signed following the Annual Summit meeting between visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin.
The two leaders discussed many issues, including terrorism, the volatile situation prevailing in Pakistan and Afghanistan, recovery of the global economy, energy-security, climate-change, nuclear disarmament and reforming of international institutions.
Addressing a joint press conference with Medvedev, the Indian Prime Minister welcomed greater Russian participation in the expansion of his country's nuclear energy program.
The successful conclusion of negotiations on an inter-Governmental Agreement regarding co-operation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy was a major step forward in strengthening the existing co-operation in the field, he said.
Singh said the civil nuclear agreement broadened the reach of mutual co-operation beyond just supplies of nuclear reactors, to cover research and development as also an entire gamut of issues in nuclear co-operation.
The agreement on increasing defense co-operation, runs from 2011 to 2022, committing Moscow to offer sales support to New Delhi for the equipment it sells to India.
Singh said the agreements signed in defense co-operation, in particular for military and technical co-operation from 2011 to 2022, would provide the basis for an extensive and broad-based co-operation in the area.
An agreement for cultural exchange till 2012 was also signed.
Medvedev expressed concern over the "grave challenge of terrorism", and said there was a common threat that India and Russia were facing, and both countries should complement their anti-terror base and provide concrete help in anti-terror activities.
"The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan underlines the importance of this... Terrorism is the biggest evil of the current and last century," he added.
The two leaders also adopted a joint declaration for deepening the strategic partnership between India and Russia to meet global challenges.
Putin To Visit India
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, during whose presidency in 2000 the strategic partnership between India and Russia got a boost, will visit India next March at the invitation of his Indian counterpart.
Expressing his gratefulness to Putin for accepting his invitation, Singh said at a meeting with him in Moscow that he was confident that the Russian Premier's visit would give a new fillip to Indo-Russian ties.
Singh recalled that it was the then President Putin's maiden visit to India in 2000 during which the declaration of Indo-Russian strategic partnership was signed.
"That was a historic visit, which laid the foundation of our relations," he said at the start of his parleys with Putin.
The two leaders will also address the Indo-Russian CEOs Council co-chaired by Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Limited and Vladimir Evtushenkov of the 'Sistema' conglomerate, which markets mobile services in India under the MTS brand.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.