g relations with other nations not at cost of ties with Russ
Moscow | Saturday, Dec 5 2009 IST
 

Ahead of his official visit for annual India-Russia summit at the highest level, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said growing relations with other countries will never be at the cost of time-tested friendly ties with Russia.

Dr Singh will arrive in Moscow tomorrow afternoon and the official summit level talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will start in the Kremlin on Monday.

''The people of India, can never forget the help and support we have received from Russia in difficult moments of our history,'' Dr Singh said in an interview with Russian media.

''India like Russia, has sought to respond to the changes in the international system through different ways, including by broadening our engagement with the rest of the world,'' he said.

''We are, however, clear that our growing engagement with the rest of the world cannot be at the cost of our time-tested ties with Russia,'' the PM said, stressing ''Russia is an important factor of peace, stability and security in the world.'' He also said during his visit, he will discuss with Medvedev ''the steps we can take to raise our strategic partnership to the next level''. The India-Russia annual summit is the principal vehicle to advance the strategic partnership, he said adding every such summit has contributed to this process.

''We have seen this over the decades, beginning with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehrus first visit in 1955,'' Dr Singh pointed out.

The PM said, ''I would feel most gratified personally if the new Russia and the new India can sustain this long-standing partnership by harnessing the tremendous goodwill our peoples have had for each other in the past.'' Both President Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are great friends of India, he said.

''I sincerely hope that this visit of mine will further develop bonds of friendship and that our strategic partnership with Russia will get deeper, broader in content,'' Dr Singh noted.

-- (UNI) -- 05DF1.xml

 

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