俄印签百亿大单 将为印建核反应堆

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in the Indian capital of New Delhi to meet Indian officials in hopes of signing dozens of deals worth over 10 billion dollars.

As one of the world’s top arms importers, India plans to spend tens of billions of dollars over the next few years. Russia is looking to share a piece of that lucrative pie during Putin's two-day visit amid rising competition with the United States.

But these deals worry long-time Indian foe Pakistan and regional rival China. Indian government officials say their energy-hungry country is also looking to expand cooperation with Russia in a number of areas.

"(aiming) to take forward, our bilateral cooperation in strategic sectors, like hydrocarbons, civil-nuclear energy, space and defense."

This cooperation includes a deal to build two new nuclear reactors, delivery of a long delayed refurbished Soviet-era aircraft carrier and a joint venture to produce satellite navigation equipments.

Worried about regional instability, the two countries also discussed the current situation in Afghanistan. "Both sides India and Russia, would also like to see a rapid economic development in Afghanistan, a rapid reconstruction in Afghanistan, return to normalcy of Afghanistan, and we both agreed that this is a concerted effort, has to be a concerted effort on the part of the international community."

As Russia looks to expand influence in the region, it hopes this includes boosting trade from 8 billion to 20 billion dollars with India over the next five years.

Ian Lee, Reuters.