and trade are likely to be signed during the two-day summit between the two countries beginning on December 20,
when Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov makes his first visit to India.
Russian news agency Novostsi quoted defence ministry sources in Moscow as having said that an agreement on the setting up of the Kudankulam nuclear power station with two reactors is likely to get the green signal during the summit. Russia will extend a two billion dollar credit to India for the project, which will be built on a turnkey basis.
Moscow has also expressed its readiness to train Indian
specialists to enable them to man such nuclear power stations .
The summit is also expected to resolve the vexed question of debt payment between Russia and India, which was one of the subjects of discussion at the session of the Indo-Russian Commission for Economic and Trade Cooperation held in Moscow recently.
At the session, it was agreed by the two sides that India will
pay half of its debt in the form of commodities, which will include foodstuffs, medicines, cars and other equipment.
Russia's mode of payment of its debts to India will be decided at the Delhi summit, sources said.
The Russian defence ministry sources said Russia was also
planning to sell to India its surface-to-air missiles, SAM-300,
which will be used for training Indian defence personnel.
As part of its defence cooperation with India, Russia has decided
to convert its hitherto top secret defence plant at the Siberian
city of Krasnoyersk into an Indo-Russian joint venture for turning out silicon chips. According to a report in the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the plant will produce chips for Indian defence and civilian sectors. These integrated chips are used to make solar batteries and semi-conductors.
The report said the project ranks among the first Indo-Russian
joint ventures set up in high technology.
The Delhi summit is also expected to approve the Indo-Russian
joint commission's recommendations on trade expansion. Though this year's trade turnover between the two countries will see some marginal fall over previous years, both the sides hope to raise the figure substantially in the next few years.
Observers in Moscow note that the trade turnover between India and Russia during 1998 was expected to be 1.5 billion dollars. Till the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the annual volume of trade between the two countries amounted to five billion dollars.
Primakov's visit to India will be preceded by Russia's
participation in an international airshow in Bangalore, in which
Russia will present, for the first time, its latest ''war bird'',
the Su-33.
According to Russian defence ministry sources, the fighter plane
is an improved version of Su-27. The Bangalore airshow will
also feature MIG-AT.
AFTER the conclusion of the official talks in New Delhi on
December 21, Primakov will leave for Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic, the sources said.
UNI
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