Delhi, Moscow seal N-pact

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Russia on Friday signed landmark accords with its traditional ally India on issues ranging from nuclear energy to space, as President Dmitry Medvedev met Indian leaders in a bid to bolster ties.
The accords covered the building of four new nuclear energy reactors in Kudankulam in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, as well as a cooperation accord on manned space flight.
Russia becomes the third country to sign an atomic energy agreement with India after a decision in September by the Nuclear Suppliers Group to waive its ban on trade of nuclear technology with India.
The US and France are the other powers to have signed agreements with New Delhi. Moscow is already building two 1,000-megawatt light water reactors at the site. The value of the new deal was not given.
The two sides also signed an accord that envisages Russia sending an Indian cosmonaut into space in 2013 and then launch a manned Indian spacecraft in 2015, officials said.
Another deal was signed on the sale to India of 80 military helicopters, which officials said was worth over one billion dollars. The countries also reaffirmed their goal to raise bilateral trade to $10b by 2010.
The string of accords underline that ties between Moscow and New Delhi - which date back to the Soviet Union - continue to be strong, despite India's desire to also build relations with the United States.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed the landmark nuclear deal as a "milestone in the history of our cooperation" after meeting here with President Dmitry Medvedev. He described ties with Moscow as a "vital anchor of our foreign policy."
"It is a relationship that has stood the test of time, a relationship based on strong mutual trust," Singh said alongside Medvedev after the signing ceremonies.
Medvedev praised the agreements as opening a "new page" in relations.
The continued strength of ties between Moscow and New Delhi contrasts with the sometimes prickly relationship between Russia and India's long-time foe Pakistan. But Russia, which supplies 70 per cent of Indian military hardware, has been concerned that its slice of the Indian defence market risks becoming leaner amid disputes over costs and late deliveries.
Medvedev said that the defence relationship between India and Russia "like any cooperation, has problems and perspectives" but he emphasised that there was "no problem that is out of the ordinary."
He said the sale of Russian T-90 tanks to India and the possible leasing or sale of Russian atomic-powered submarines has been "concretely" discussed in the talks with Singh.
The fact that energy-hungry India has signed cooperation pacts with France and the US since the nuclear ban was lifted means Russia for the first time faces competition in that market.
"We are not scared of competition. Russian technology can compete," the head of Russia's nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, told reporters.
He said it was too early to discuss the possibility of Russia building two more reactors in Kudankulam for a total of eight but said that after Friday's signing, "we can start talks about new agreements."