Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Lavrov

Visit of President of the Russian Federation Mr. Vladimir Putin, is the new historical development in the traditional Russia and India relationship. These relations are characterized as the strategic partnership – which is a reality and not a rhetoric.

Today India is not a country with which the world dealt ten-fifteen years ago. Present India is a confident state, which is among the leading states in the world in terms of level of production and on the size of gross national product, and also on a number of key parameters of scientific and technical development.

Russia welcomes the achievements of the Indian friends and sees in them the possibility of further strengthening of the multi-faceted relationship and increase in the practical returns for our people. It concerns first of all cooperation in trade & economic and scientific & technical areas. It is important to bring it to the high level of our political dialogue. This theme has actively been studied within the framework of the Intergovernmental Joint Commission.

We welcome the interest of the Indian businessmen to work in Russia. On its part the Russian companies are also interested in participation in large-scale programs which are being carried out in India in sphere of energy, construction, civil aircraft manufacturing, electronics, computer science, telecommunications, biotechnology. The leading role in the development of economic cooperation belongs to the investment. Here we have considerable positive experience, to name joint development of the Russian deposits on Sakhalin or construction in India of a nuclear power station "Kudankulam" is enough. Now this experience should be extended to new mutually advantageous projects.

The big prospects could be seen in sphere of inter-regional cooperation and contacts between small and medium business. This is reflected in the developed partnership between the subjects of the Russian Federation and states of India, in particular, between Astrakhan and Gujarat, Samara and Karnataka, Kazan and Hyderabad.

Businessmen should know each other better, and should have more information about each other. Therefore the establishment of Representative Office of Confederation of Indian Industry and the Russian-Indian Business Council created by Trade and Industrial Chamber of Russia and Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is significant.

We are interested in the increased role and authority of India on the world scene, in the further strengthening of our interaction in the international affairs. Today India becoming one of leading world powers makes the international system more balanced and stable. Moscow and New Delhi are united in the aspiration to construct a just and democratic international order. Among our goals is increased effectiveness of multilateral mechanisms of cooperation with the central role of the United Nations and support to international law.

The Russian-Indian relations today is a major factor in the international politics and economy. But their potential is far from being exhausted. I am convinced, that the Russian-Indian summit in New Delhi will help in expanding, in all directions, strategic partnership of our states, which will be in the interest of universal peace, safety and prosperity.