India, Russia sign 30 agreements

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NEW DELHI, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Leaders of India and Russia signed 30 agreements in areas such as civil nuclear cooperation and defense, saying the deals signaled the countries' special ties.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also reviewed the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan during their two-hour summit in New Delhi that included discussions on bilateral, regional and global issues, the Press Trust of India reported.

Singh and Medvedev also agreed to step up efforts to to reach bilateral trade of $20 billion by 2015.

"Our talks have been comprehensive and result-oriented," Singh and Medvedev said in a joint statement. "We have signed several important agreements covering a large number of sectors. This reflects our mutual desire to bring our cooperation in other areas at par with our traditionally strong cooperation in the defense and nuclear fields."

Key agreements include a preliminary design contract for fighter aircraft to be jointly designed and developed by Indian and Russian entities, and an agreement calling for joint research and development in reactor technology and related fields for civilian uses of nuclear power, PTI said.

The two leaders also discussed construction of more Russian-designed nuclear reactors at Kudankulam, where two units are ready to be commissioned.

Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's nuclear corporation Rosatom, said India reaffirmed its readiness to provide Russia with more land for construction of nuclear reactors, RIA Novosti reported. Russia plans to build 18 reactors in India, he said.