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New Delhi: The signing of a civil nuclear accord was set to dominate Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's maiden visit to India starting later Thursday. But in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks, the spotlight had turned on counter-terror cooperation.
Medvedev, who was to arrive last night, on a three-day visit, is the first foreign head of state to visit India after the brazen terror strikes killed 172 people, including 22 foreigners.
He will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today on a wide spectrum of bilateral, regional and global issues, including civil nuclear cooperation, counter-terrorism and the intensification of economic, energy and defence ties between the two strategic partners who have enjoyed strain-free ties for decades.
A pact on civil nuclear cooperation, which envisages Russia building four additional reactors at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, will be signed today in the presence of the two leaders.
A wide-ranging protocol on cooperation in trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural sectors is also expected to be signed.
Singh will thank Russia for its unflinching support in ending India's nuclear isolation at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), sources said. The nuclear pact was initialled early this year but had to wait for the formal signing for the green signal from the IAEA and NSG.
Suppliers nod
The NSG finally gave a nod September 6 that led to India signing nuclear accords with the US and France. Russia will be the third country with whom India will be signing a civil nuclear cooperation deal.
With the Mumbai terror attacks underlining the danger of global terrorism, India and Russia are also set to intensify their cooperation in combating this threat to peace and security in the region.
Russia has viewed with concern the rise of radicalism and extremism in Central Asia and former Soviet provinces. It is likely to bring some concrete counter-terrorism proposals on the table today, the sources said.
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