India-Russia: News & Analysis

[Aditya_V]

Western press gets the spin from their establishment. Since Indian editors/reporters mostly lack (critical) thinking about these matters they copy paste these articles and publish them either verbatim by adding that the article is by foreign media or some dumb editor adds a totally unrelated line about setback to Modi/Modi whose visa was denied because of Guj riots to the same article and puts his name as "edited by ...".

Pure B/S- Indian press - there are patriotic journalists, but owners also get the spin from western establishment for favourable visa's and funding. So they take the same line in the interest of western establishment and not Indian interests.

[Austin]

Russia, India will expand payments in national currencies — Putin

Russia's top oil producer Rosneft and India’s Essar Group have signed a preliminary contract on annual supplies of 10 million tons of oil to India over 10 years

NEW DELHI, December 11. /TASS/. Russia and India will expand payments in national currencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his official visit to India. “We agreed to use national currencies more actively in the payments,” Putin said.

Russian energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom together with Indian companies are preparing projects on developing the Arctic shelf, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday.

“Our largest companies, Rosneft and Gazprom, together with their Indian counterparts are preparing projects on developing Russia’s Arctic shelf and expanding the supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG),” Putin told journalists.
Rosneft, India’s Essar sign contract on annual supplies of 10 mln tons of oil to India

Russia's top oil producer Rosneft and India’s Essar Group have signed a preliminary contract on annual supplies of 10 million tons of oil to India over 10 years, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said on Thursday.

“The contract envisages launching supplies in 2015 of 10 million tons over 10 years with a possible extension,” Sechin said, adding that oil will be supplied via the sea route.

The contract is “an energy bridge between Russia and India,” he said.

“We continue talks not only with Essar, we are working with other processing companies and continue cooperation with ONGC. There is a possibility that the participation of Indian companies in extraction projects will increase,” Sechin said.

‘We and the project participants have agreed on the possibility of such participation and we don’t see any big obstacles,” Sechin said, without specifying the stake, which ONGC might get in the project.

Far East LNG project shareholders agree terms for Indian ONGC’s participation

Shareholders of the Far East Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Plant project on Russia’s Pacific Island of Sakhalin have agreed terms for the Indian ONGC’s participation in the undertaking, oil major Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said on Thursday.

“ONGC participates in minerals extraction projects in Russia and we’re holding negotiations on increasing its participation,” Sechin said.

ONGC requested Rosneft to enter the project for the construction of an LNG plant in the Far East, Sechin said.

Crimea, Indian business group sign agreement on economic cooperation

Crimea and an Indian business association signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday aimed at expanding business ties and deepening investment cooperation, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov said after talks with Indian business representatives.

The Crimean leader, who arrived in New Delhi earlier in the day as Russian President Vladimir Putin met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a summit, met a Mumbai businessman to discuss boosting trade with the Black Sea region. Aksyonov said the two sides agreed to cooperate in agriculture, tourism, pharmaceutical manufacturing and trade, and promised to provide adequate conditions to attract Indian entrepreneurs.

“We have invited businessmen from India to visit Crimea at any time,” Aksyonov said. “We are ready to give them all necessary support.”

The business group called the Indian-Crimean Partnership is an association of Indian business circles, mainly from the financial center of Mumbai. The group initiated the signing of the memorandum.

“The association is comprised of some 25 chief executives,” said Gul Kripalani, a seafood merchant who chairs the group. “Interest towards Crimea is growing every day, and we forecast that the association will include up to 250 entrepreneurs within a month,” he said, adding that the most promising cooperation area was developing the peninsula’s infrastructure.

“This could also be energy, including renewable energy sources, as well as food export to Crimea and import of Crimean wines,” Kripalani added.

[Austin]

Putin-Modi joint statement

http://indian.ruvr.ru/news/2014_12_11/P ... ment-0256/

India, Russia sign 16 agreements in areas including armed forces training, nuclear energy, oil exploration, infrastructure, medical research in Delhi's Hyderabad House. President Putin said: "Russian foreign policy's priority is to strengthen ties with India."While India's options have increased, Russia will remain as our most important defence partner": said PM Modi.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday as Moscow tries to strengthen energy, defence and strategic ties in Asia.

India has agreed to identify a second site, in addition to Kudankulam, for Russian-designed nuclear power units.

Here are the Commercial Contracts and Inter-Governmental Documents signed today:

List of documents signed between India and Russia:

Commercial Contracts

1. MoU between TATA Power and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF);

2. MoU between ACRON of Russia and NMDC of India (consortium leader) to implement the understanding reached to acquire stake in a potash mine in Russia;

3. MoU between VTB (Vneshtorgbank) of Russia and ESSAR Group;

4. MoU between IDFC (Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation Ltd) and RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund) on a co-investment opportunity up to US $ one billion;

5. MoU between ‘Oil India Limited’ and ‘Zarubezhneft’;

6. MoU between FICCI and Delovaya Rossiya;

7. MoU between news agencies PTI and TASS;

8. MoU between Electronics and Software Export promotion Council of India (ESEPCI) and Skolkovo Foundation of Russia;

9. MoU between ESSAR and ROSNEFT for long-term supply of crude oil;

10. Supplement to the General Framework Agreement (GFA) for Units 3 and 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and ATOMSTROYEXPORT (ASE);

11. Contract between Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and ATOMSTROYEXPORT (ASE) for unit 3 and 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant;

12. MoU between Gamesa Wind Turbine Pvt Ltd. of India and ROTEK of Russia;

13. MoU between EIRENE SYSTEMS and GLONASS Union.

Inter-Governmental Documents:

1. Protocol for consultations between the Ministry of External Affairs & Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia for the period 2015-2016;

2. Agreement for Training of Indian Armed Forces Personnel in the Military Educational Establishments of the Defence Ministry of the Russian Federation;

3. Strategic Vision for Strengthening Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy between the Republic of India and the Russian Federation;

4. Provisions for the Technical Data and Information Nondisclosure in the framework of cooperation in the field of Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy;

5. Programme of Cooperation (POC) under Framework of Inter-governmental Agreement for Enhancement of Cooperation in Oil & Gas in 2015-16;

6. MoU between Quality Council of India (QCI) and Federal Accreditation Service of Russian Federation on technical cooperation on accreditation;

7. Memorandum of Understanding between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) on cooperation in Health Research;

[Austin]

Putin: a need for more transparent scheme of interaction of Russia and India in the diamond industry

NEW DELHI, December 11th. / TASS /. Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a more transparent scheme of interaction and establishing cooperation between Russia and India in the diamond industry. He stated this at the World Diamond Conference, noting that there will be instructed concerned government structures to maximize the impact of the diamond business for the two countries.

"Almost 50% of deliveries of Russian raw materials accounted for India, or controlled by Indian capital company, - he said. - In view of the volume of solid diamond transactions, it is desirable to consider the question of the formation of advanced interaction schemes and the establishment of cooperation between the two countries." "And we invite our Indian colleagues to work in the field of cut in the Russian Federation", - said Putin.

The President noted that during the talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the spotlight were including the development of cooperation in the field of mining and diamond cutting. "We discussed these issues and provided guidance to interested state structures to maximize the impact of the diamond business for our states, respectively orient and the business community," - stated Putin.

According to him, for effective cooperation is necessary to create favorable conditions to simplify administrative and customs procedures, increase the level of security. "Tune in this regard to the joint and constructive work" - said the president of the Russian Federation.

The President noted that India is the world leader in the field of diamond cutting and diamond Indian origin "Eagles" and "Shah" adorn the collection of the Diamond Fund.

[Austin]

Rogozin: India will produce at Mi-17 and Ka-226T

NEW DELHI, Dec. 11 - RIA Novosti. India is in agreement with the Russian Federation will produce on its territory Mi-17 and Ka-226T, and the cars of family "Kamov" will be produced up to 400 a year, told reporters on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

An agreement on the issue of helicopters was reached after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who passed on Thursday.

"There are two contracts. One - Mi-17, in which they (Indian side) really need, and the second - the Ka-226T. It's a big contract to build on the territory of India" - Rogozin said. It is planned to produce annually about 400 pieces.

Deputy Prime Minister said that initially, when India announced a tender for the helicopters of this type, the main competitor of the Russian aircraft was a helicopter "Eurocopter". However, he said, due to the unique characteristics of the Ka-226 and special requests of the Indian side the tender was canceled and it was agreed on the deployment of India's production of Russian cars.

Rogozin said that the helicopter will be in the sea and the mountain modification.

http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20141211/1037744080.html

[Austin]

Looks like they would be exporting Mi-17/Ka-226 Made in India would be more cost effective to build in India and export

[Austin]

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status ... 34/photo/1

Narendra ModiVerified account ‏@narendramodi

Wonderful day with President Putin. Our meeting was comprehensive. India's partnership with Russia is incomparable.

[Austin]

Detailed Report by PMO

Joint Statement on the visit of President of the Russian Federation to India for 15th Annual India-Russia Summit

[Austin]

PM Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Press Briefing at Hyderabad House

[svinayak]

Western spin
India has the upper hand in this relationship

"India is playing a game of opportunistic alliances. As Russia's Ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, rightly said in an interview on Monday: India is like a rich fiancée with many bridegrooms," stated Anil Gupta, professor of strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland.


"Ten years from now, Russia is unlikely to be a particularly important country for India. India would be the world's 3rd largest economy at that time (and much larger than Russia). By then, India is also likely to have overcome its weaknesses in defense. However, Modi has concluded that a strategy of opportunistic alliances is the best strategy to achieve that goal as rapidly as possible," Gupta added.

[Austin]

Meeting with MMS and Sonia

Meeting with President of Indian National Congress Party Sonia Gandhi

[arun]

Did Russia pull a fast one on India, by embarrassingly for India, sneaking in Sergey Aksyonov, leader of Ukrainian territory of Crimea annexed by Russia, into India?

On the other hand did India pull a fast one on the US by claiming no knowledge that Sergey Aksyonov would be visiting India?

Crimean leader in New Delhi during Putin visit

U.S. 'troubled' that Crimean leader in India with Putin

[Austin]

Ukraine President criticises Modi’s diplomacy

After India hosted Crimea’s Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov who signed a trade cooperation pact with an Indian business association during President Vladimir Putin’s India visit, Ukraine has hit out at the Indian government.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko suggested on Friday that India seems to be placing more importance on “money” over “values” by harbouring trade ties with the Crimean leader. Poroshenko was speaking at Lowy Institute in Australia on Friday.

“It is not an easy job to keep the world together. This is the difference between money and values. The closer you are to civilization nations, values is much more important to you than money. You can be bought by money, contracts…,” the Ukrainian President said in a dig at the pact signed between an Indian business association and the Crimean government.

“The Indian position doesn’t help, it doesn’t save Mr Aksyanov. He is a criminal, it’s very simple. He has a criminal background and no doubt he has a criminal future,” said Poroshenko.

The head of the Crimean government Aksyonov signed a memorandum of understanding between Crimea and the Indian-Crimean Partnership, an association of Indian business circles on the sidelines of his trip on Thursday.

A group of Indian businessmen and Indian journalists will visit Crimea under the agreement, said a Russian news agency Tass report.

India earlier broke with the international community in acknowledging that Russia has legitimate interests in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday in the Indian capital where the two sides inked crucial energy deals, including Rosneft’s 10-year oil delivery contract of 10 million tons per year with India.

“We have a strategic partnership that is incomparable. Russia our foremost defence partner since decades,” said Modi at a joint press conference following talks with Putin.

The vast array of deals signed between Russia and India, including an economic partnership with Crimea comes weeks ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to India. Obama has insisted on US attempts to “isolate” Putin internationally and expose Russia to a spiralling trade war with the west.

New Delhi has supported Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, with Modi saying that dialogue has to replace the current blame-game.

“There is a saying in India that the person who should throw a stone first is the person who has not committed any sins. In the world right now, a lot of people want to give advice. But look within them, and they too have sinned in some way. Ultimately, India’s view point is that efforts need to be made to sit together and talk, and to resolve problems in an ongoing process,” Modi told a US broadcaster in September.

[Austin]

Strangely Ukraine President does not critisize China when they did deal with Crimea on investement

http://russia-insider.com/en/politics_u ... rimea_high

[Austin]

Vladimir Putin’s Productive India Visit

By Saurav Jha

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual summit visit to India this year was a brief affair. Putin came looking for assurances that an India led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have no truck with Western attempts to isolate Russia and will continue to be a “time tested and reliable” partner, especially at a time of economic difficulties for Russia.

These, he received. India has given the Russians both official as well symbolic reassurance that it does not support Western sanctions. In return, India has got its own set of guarantees at the highest level from the Russians for spares for existing Russian-origin military hardware, with Moscow agreeing to move more quickly on transferring technology for the equipment to Indian firms. Keen to retain its position in the Indian defense sector, Russia has also become the first major arms exporter to come on board with India’s military-aerospace industrial goals under the “Make in India” program, with an initiative to produce and even export Russian origin helicopters from Indian soil being announced during the visit itself. At a time when Russia needs India’s high-end human resources and its market size and India requires more high-value manufacturing elements, the long-standing trust between the two sides seems to be helpful.

While the joint vision document released during the visit explicitly notes that India and Russia oppose economic sanctions that do not have the approval of the United Nations Security Council, it was perhaps the fact that a business delegation led by the Crimean prime minister accompanied Putin on his visit that was more revealing of India’s stance on Ukraine. The Indian government is apparently encouraging Indian businesses to engage more deeply in Crimea, in a clear signal that it stands with Russia irrespective of American positions. In fact India is going even further than China is in making its support for Russia clear.

And that of course is by design, since India does not want Russia to step back from its traditional role of maintaining a power balance in Eurasia. Of course, India will need to offer more than just support on Crimea if it is to prevent Russia from becoming overly dependent on China at a time when Moscow needs to re-orient itself away from Western markets. It is here that Modi’s statement on Russia remaining India’s primary defense partner despite other options for his country becomes important. The Russian embassy in India has been rather voluble of late in denouncing India’s turn towards the United States and France as defense partners, while Russian spares support for existing programs had become rather uneven – leading to calls in India to scale back its military partnership with Russia. That moment has now passed.

Already a private company in India has snagged a contract for maintaining Mig-29s, and more such arrangements are being pushed forward. During talks, Modi is known to have conveyed to Putin the very crucial need to locate spares manufacturing facilities for Russian origin weapons in India. For its part, Russia seems at ease with the overall “Make in India” policy that Modi’s government is emphasizing. In light of India’s liberalized regime for “FDI in Defense,” Russia will tie up with an Indian partner to produce as well export up to 400 Mi-17 medium lift and Ka-226 light utility helicopters (LUH) in India each year. The Ka-226 incidentally was the Russian entry for the Indian military’s global LUH tenders, before that process was cancelled by the Modi government in favor of a home-made initiative where foreign majors could tie-up with Indian partners to build the helicopters in India.

Recognizing that India has adopted an automotive sector-type strategy to boost its aerospace industry at a time when China is spending heavily in this arena, Russia is also looking to locate MS-21 and Sukhoi Superjet 100 production facilities in India, taking advantage of the availability of cheaper but trained manpower locally. Russia has known for a while that it needs greenfield locations for its high-end industries outside its own territory, and India with its immense market size seems the best prospect. Going forward, the output from Russian industrial arrangements in India should also service the domestic market back in Russia, given the need to hold down costs at a time of tighter state budgets. Moreover, with the prospect of Western sanctions lingering for the foreseeable future, Russia may require export partners such as India to circumvent the sanctions. However, as with every such initiative in India, any Russian investment in the aerospace industry will be tied to localization clauses as well as support for India’s own civil airliner development program.

Although the visit did not bring any announcement on ambitious co-development programs, such as the fifth generation fighter aircraft project or the medium transport aircraft initiative, Modi’s statement on Russia’s status as the most important defense partner for India means that there will be new impetus in sorting out the workshare issues holding back a final agreement on these two initiatives. Of course, Russia will have to be far more amenable to Indian demands on technology development if these projects are to proceed, given the spends involved.

Continuing negotiations also meant that hydrocarbons did not become a centerpiece of the visit, in contrast to initial expectations. The visit did see an agreement signed between India’s Essar and Rosneft on the long-term supply of some 10 million tons of crude annually at a discount that will see the former drawing down imports from Iran. However, no agreement was reached on Indian state-owned ONGC purchasing a stake in Rosneft’s East Siberian oil and gas fields, including the prized Vankor estate, which will feed assured markets in China via the ESPO pipeline, since the Indians want a 25 percent stake while Rosneft is offering only 10 percent. The haggling may reflect the fact that Indian hydrocarbon majors want equity stakes in lucrative fields and tax breaks for existing assets in Russia where production has tapered off, while the Russians want India to make up-front off-take commitments for risky offshore fields in the Arctic as well as for LNG export projects. Putin even commented just prior to the visit that LNG is likely to prove cheaper than a gas pipeline from Russia to India, and this too is going to be explored. Given India and Russia’s needs in the current oil-to-gas transition, much bigger deals can be expected in the future, current negotiations notwithstanding.

In any case, delays on the hydrocarbon front are not getting in the way of building more Russian-origin nuclear reactors in India. Neither is India’s nuclear liability law, with the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) agreeing with Rosatom to build a further 12 reactors of Russian design in India by 2035 in addition to the two existing facilities at Kudankulam. To accommodate more Russian design reactors, another reactor site will be identified soon along India’s eastern coast. The first of this new wave of reactors will be Kudankulam units 3 & 4, with construction commencing in 2016. Again, the Russians will have to localize most of the components for the VVER-1200 reactors that will be built under these arrangements. The visit has also seen forward movement on settling a dispute between Indian Rare Earth’s Limited, a DAE undertaking, and Russia for recoveries from a titanium plant in India.

The minerals outlook does seem to be brightening, with Indian investment in Russian potash mines set to grow and Indian companies inking a 2.1 billion dollar pact to source diamonds directly from Russia’s world-leading diamond consortium Alrosa. The diamond industry in India is a significant employer and the world’s largest manufacturing center for cut and polished diamonds. It can now reduce its dependence on diamond trading centers in the West and Dubai. Interestingly, this move is similar to the Chinese decision to locate production facilities in Modi’s home state of Gujarat, the center for India’s diamond industry, since it directly increases the power of a business constituency entrenched in Modi’s region of origin. Clearly, Modi looms large as a personality to be courted now in the Indian political spectrum by major foreign countries.

With both sides looking to grow trade in strategic sectors and minerals, the working group on India’s participation in the Eurasian customs union now looks more significant. More so because Russia’s food security in the future will also depend on cheap Indian exports of processed dairy and meat products as well as commodities such as rice, given that Moscow has embargoed Western suppliers. At the same time, Russia is instituting “import substitution” policies at home and free trade arrangements with India will allow two-way trade to grow regardless. In fact, it would also be a source of encouragement for Indian industries to use Russia’s own water resources to produce certain categories of goods.

To do that, Indian and Russian business will have to talk more efficiently and directly with each other. There is solid ground for that now, with Russia rather keen to enter the Indian market with a view to finding innovative partners that can overcome traditional weaknesses in bringing inventions to market. The vision document calls for the creation of a “direct investment fund of $2 billion between Rosnano and suitable Indian investment partners for implementation of high-tech projects.” Besides this, the Skolkovo foundation is now scouring India for startups in the high-tech spectrum to fund as an angel investor. Russia and India will also ease visa rules for businesses and students to facilitate the movement of financial and human capital. Overall, given the urgent need to boost trade (which languishes at a mere $10 billion) and private investment, both sides are moving forward on rupee-ruble trade with their central banks working out the modalities and export-import banks discussing new credit guarantees that would facilitate loans in local currencies for Indian and Russian companies seeking to participate in each other’s economies. This is of course in sync with BRICS efforts to trade in bilateral currencies in a bid to reduce the influence of the dollar. Of course, it will ultimately also depend on how quickly bilateral economic activity grows between the two sides.

In the multilateral sphere, India wants the 2015 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Ufa to be the moment it finally becomes a member of that organization. With China having supported India’s membership and Russia presiding over SCO at the moment, this will be a key test of India-Russia ties. No wonder Putin’s special representative remarked recently that Moscow will do whatever it can to secure India’s membership.

Just as India does not want to push Russia into China’s grip, Russia doesn’t want to see China become too dominant. With this in mind, Russia’s partnership with India in strategic deterrence programs will grow in strength, already evident in their nuclear agreement and the fact that Russia has made available military GLONASS signals to India for ballistic missile targeting.

Follow Saurav Jha on twitter @SJha1618.

[Austin]

Putin's daylong sojourn to India leaves both nations with deals with $100 bn

[arshyam]

That makes it one of the most productive visits - $100B agreements in 22 hours - isko bolte hain paisa vasool!

On a slight tangent, I found it interesting that the MSM did not give much space to this visit. It was almost like when the Aus PM visited, only difference being Russia is not Australia.

I checked the homepages of the following outlets:
NDTV, Hindu, HT, IndExp, IBN - no mention
ToI, New IndExp - one article each about US talking down to India about engaging normally with Russia.

Interesting, to say the least.

[Added later: Niti has a bunch of articles on its homepage, which was what I was expecting elsewhere. Did Indian media bottom out in foggy land?]

[krishnan]

good, who cares about MSM

[arshyam]

Krishnan sir, we should care. Whether we like it or not, they are 'mainstream' media. This is a very serious issue if Indian media is doing the bidding of some vested power that is not India's. Sure, folks on BRF know better, but what about the aam abduls out there? They will only get served Ombaba's antics, his dogs' names and what they eat in India next month - rest assured, that coverage will go overboard. By not covering an event where India charts her own course in the world, our own media is indoctrinating our people to believe we are a western stooge. I for one, am going to adopt the term 'newstraders' going forward. I know NaMo keeps saying that, but nothing like realizing something by one's own experience.

[Austin]

Russia, India intend to increase trade up to $30 billion — minister

NEW DELHI, December 12. /TASS/. Russia and India set the goal to increase trade turnover up to $30 billion by 2025, Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov told TASS on Friday.

“We've set an ambitious goal. In order to achieve it, we should develop joint projects which will include research and development, and not limit ourselves by supplies of our companies,” Manturov said after a meeting with leaders of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

“Prospects for the development of infrastructure, particularly industrial infrastructure, are opened for joint projects,” he said.

“We also seek to develop the high tech sector. Our key task is to increase the number of joint ventures both in India and in Russia,” Manturov said.

Among other directions of bilateral cooperation, he named “projects in the aeronautical industry, including for design and production of the fifth generation fighter jet and a multi-role transport aircraft”.

“Under our new projects, we seek to produce the Ka-226 helicopter in India. The helicopter can be used for military and civil purposes,” Manturov said.

In 2013 trade turnover between Russia and India reached $10 billion.

Russia considers canceling visas for Indians

Russian authorities are discussing abolition of visas for Indian businessmen and tourists, Denis Manturov added.

Abolition of visas mainly for entrepreneurs and also for tourists was discussed, he said after a meeting with the leadership of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

It is discussed regularly in Russia, “The next step is abolition of visas for tourists and entrepreneurs. We constantly discuss it, and I think the process to settle it will not be long,” Manturov said.

The minister did not say when visas would be abolished, saying it was under the jurisdiction of the Foreign Ministry and migration services. “We are interested to have progress in this and will provide possible assistance for the colleagues,” he said.

[Multatuli]

While the US and Europe frustrate India's quest for energy security (embargo's on Iranian oil and natural gas and the American pressure and threats against India to comply), Russia offers stakes in new oil and gas fields. I know, the Russians do this out of necessity, but the net result for India is guaranteed oil supplies.

While the US can not accept Indian laws on liability for suppliers of nuclear reactors and tried to derail the supply of Russian nuclear reactors and the expansion of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, Russia just agreed to sell a dozen more 1000 MW reactors and the supply of nuclear fuel for these.

Russia also offered more nuclear submarines to India.

[ramana]

English media in India is acting like US sponsored media. Soon it will lose its relevance.

[Austin]

US unhappy with contracts between Russian and Indian companies

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 - RIA Novosti. US dissatisfied scale contracts, which concluded on the eve of the Russian and Indian companies, and believe that "with Russia can not conduct business as usual", told reporters on Friday, State Department spokesman Jen Psak.


"We have seen reports that Indian companies have signed contracts with Russian companies. We continue to urge all countries not to do business with Russia as usual. We are studying it, but not the details of contracts vdaemsya for obvious reasons," - said Psak.

To the question, Will the successful visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi to the delay or cancellation of the visit to India of US President Barack Obama, Psak replied in the negative. "No. India - our important partner, especially in economic cooperation, and we will continue to work on this," - she said. Obama's visit to India scheduled for January.


http://ria.ru/economy/20141212/1038007394.html

[Vayutuvan]

My Gotus - please make nice with India for the sake of job growth in our country. Pretty please. Acting like a bully won't work because we cannot backup our threats any more - least of all with a resurgent india.

[arun]

X Posted.

Unit 1 of Kudankulam Power Plant to be Shut Down for 6 to 8 Weeks.

Major problem with Turbine reported.

Article datelined 10 days ago, i.e. Oct. 20th:

Unit 1 of Kudankulam Power Plant Shut Down for 6 to 8 Weeks

Going by the frequent outages at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, looks like the Russians have sold us a lemon.

Power outages at Kudankulam nuclear plant dangerous: Study

Laxmi Ajai Prasanna, TNN | Oct 29, 2014, 12.25AM IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: According to a study based on analysis of grid data, there have been 21 power outages at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) from Oct 22, 2013, to Oct 22, 2014. Of these 21 outages, 14 are "scrams'' or trips caused by faulty equipment or poor oversight, or both, and, according to experts, can be potentially catastrophic.

.................{Snipped}...............

Weblink:

TOI

Brand new Kudankulam Unit 1 stutters back to life after yet another one of its frequent shut downs due to faults:

Power generation begins at Kudankulam

[arun]

X Posted.

Russia to supply 12 new Nuclear reactors starting with Units 3 and 4 of Kudankulam.

Lessons with regard to Russian sliminess with previous contracts for supply of Nuclear reactors at Kudankulam and refurbishment of INS Vikramaditya must be paid heed to. India must ensure swinging penalties are built into the contract for delays and shoddy quality; a robust product guarantee regime besides shutting out any possibility of the Russian’s indulging in price gouging by claiming arbitrary mid contract price escalations.:

Strategic Vision for Strengthening Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy Between the Republic of India and the Russian Federation

December 11, 2014 …………………………………….

2 (2). The Sides express satisfaction over the progress towards putting into commercial operation Unit-1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), which achieved full rated power in July 2014. They also agreed to take necessary steps to expedite commissioning of Unit-2 of the KKNPP. The Sides welcomed the entry into force of the General Framework Agreement (GFA) of April 10, 2014 for KKNPP Units 3 and 4, with the signing of Amendment No. 1 to GFA as well as the signing of the contract for delivery of equipment with long manufacturing cycle and first priority equipment from the Russian Federation for implementation of projects for KKNPP Units 3 and 4. ……………………………..

3.1 Nuclear power

3.1(1). Conscious of India’s ambitious economic growth strategy, which would require a significant enhancement of power generating capacity, the two Sides have decided to fast-track the implementation of agreed cooperation projects for Nuclear Power Plants. Both Sides will strive to complete the construction and commissioning of not less than 12 units in the next two decades, in accordance with the Agreement of 2008. Towards this objective, the Indian side agrees to expeditiously identify a second site, in addition to Kudankulam, for the construction of the Russian-designed nuclear power units in India. The Sides will join their expertise and resources to minimize the total cost and time of construction of nuclear power units. ……………………….

MEA

[Austin]

While the US and Europe frustrate India's quest for energy security (embargo's on Iranian oil and natural gas and the American pressure and threats against India to comply), Russia offers stakes in new oil and gas fields. I know, the Russians do this out of necessity, but the net result for India is guaranteed oil supplies.

While the US can not accept Indian laws on liability for suppliers of nuclear reactors and tried to derail the supply of Russian nuclear reactors and the expansion of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, Russia just agreed to sell a dozen more 1000 MW reactors and the supply of nuclear fuel for these.

Russia also offered more nuclear submarines to India.

Can we expect Nuclear liability law to be resolved during POTUS visit in Jan or do the NPA still have concern with it ?

Did the French accept the liability law ?

[Austin]

Putin in India: $100 billion in 24 hours

[*]Smoothed over issues on defense cooperation, Russia will remain India's main source of arms.
[*]Signed major long-term contracts to supply India with oil ($50 bn) and construct nuclear energy units ($40 bn)
[*]A variety of other deals

The economic burden of Western sanctions has pushed Russia to the east in search of business opportunities. Judging by the outcome of President Putin’s visit to India - 20 high-profile deals struck – Moscow’s ‘pivot to Asia’ is getting a warm welcome.

Russian President Vladimir Putin achieved this during his visit to India spanning 23 hours and 15 minutes and at a summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that lasted barely a few hours.

By the time the two leaders finished their business in New Delhi’s Hyderabad House, 20 pacts were signed in the presence of Putin and Modi on 11 December and the two sides ended with US$100 billion commercial contracts.

Rich pickings by both sides included deals worth $40 billion in nuclear energy, $50 billion in crude oil and gas and $10 billion in a host of other sectors, including defense, fertilizers, space, and diamonds.

All these deals are long-term in nature. For example, India and Russia agreed that Russia would be constructing 12 new nuclear reactors for India and India would soon be identifying a second site to host these plants, apart from Kudankulam in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Each of the new nuclear reactors will cost $3 billion apiece, triple the amount India spent on the two Kudankulam plant units which each cost just a billion dollars. The sharp hike in the costs is because of tough nuclear liability laws that the Indian parliament enacted four years ago.


No foreign power has invested even a single dollar since the new Indian nuclear liability laws came into force. However with Russia wading into the vast Indian nuclear market despite its liability laws means that nations like the US, the UK, France and Canada will be in line.

Indians will have to thank the Russians for that. But then Russia too has got the advantage of being the early mover in this regard.

The $40 billion expenditure for construction of 12 new nuclear plants in India will be spaced out over two decades.

Even then this is big money, and more so for Russia at this point of time when Russia is hemmed in by the West and isolated because of sanctions enforced by the West against Russia. An Asian country like Japan, the world’s third biggest economy, too has joined the West in implementing sanctions on Russia.

The Western sanctions left little room for Russia and practically forced it to divert its direction of trade and business to Asia which offers far bigger and untapped markets.

The two sides have also decided to revive their good old defense partnership, albeit in a new avatar. Not too long ago Russia used to command an over 80 per cent share of India’s defense arsenal. Today it has fallen to just about 60 per cent. The US has already taken over as India’s number one defense supplier, nudging Russia to the second position.

The new Indo-Russian initiative involves Russia producing state-of-the-art multi-role helicopters in Indian factories to cut down on costs and time overruns. This deal, for which the two principals gave their approval on Thursday, will be worth $3 billion once formally signed.

This will be the first major defense project under Prime Minister Modi’s pet scheme ‘Make-in-India’. What sweetens the deal further for India is that India will be at liberty to export these helicopters to third countries. The Indian Prime Minister assured that his government will follow up on the helicopter project quickly.

[Arjun]

Its very much preferable for India that our dollars for Oil and Gas land up in Russia as opposed to any of the Gulf Islamic countries where they would only provide indirect succor to terrorists. So the Energy deal with Russia makes eminent sense.

As regards nuclear liability, the French and Americans will now have to figure out a way to compete. In the US, its the suppliers that would land up taking the final call. Ultimately - its about whether they trust GIC to pay up or not, which is the insurer which would insure the liability.

[Austin]

Russian Boost to 'Make in India': 400 Helicopters a Year

[Pratyush]

Is there a market for such a large number of helostudents in the world.

[Austin]

Is there a market for such a large number of helostudents in the world.

No not really and they wont really scale it to 400 in any thing less than 6-7 years and babus would take few years to sign that deal

But it wont be a bad idea to shift half of production of Mi-17, Ka and other chopper to India if we manage to reduce cost by 10-15 % , that would be a good competitive advantage for Mil /Ka globally with India acting as regional spare and maintenance hub

[Austin]

Goa liberation: How Russia vetoed the West

[Tuvaluan]

Again, in 1955 when the Goa military shot dead 20 Goan and Indian liberation marchers, all Nehru did was institute a blockade, which the Portuguese regime evaded easily by flying supplies from Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

In November 1961, emboldened by Nehru’s inaction, the Portuguese opened fire on Indian coastal steamers and fishing boats.

Nehru would have created another J&K in Goa is he had been allowed to continue his policies. The portugese actually had to mount an overt naval attack before the stupid cretin found the testicular fortitude to do the right thing and take them out.

I am sorry to say but everything I have read about Nehru's actions indicate he was an incompetent {bleep} who let problems fester out of sheer incompetence or some weird personality quirk that made him a legend in his own mind. On top of that, that tool and his cronies (the entire Indian babucracy and all their "think tanks" that proliferate) continue to have the audacity to sideline all other leaders of that time and pretend India today would not exist if it was not for Nehru. Thoo.

[RamaY]

Is there a market for such a large number of helostudents in the world.

Yes, there is. Since it's induction in 1977 nearly 12,000 Mi-17s were manufactured. That is ~400 pieces per year. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-17

India alone will need ~3-4,000 of these over next 10yrs for various Army, Navy, Airforce, Police, industrial, travel, cargo services etc needs. With a 15/20 passenger capacity, locally made Mi-17s can be a good alternatives for commercial travel between small cities in 100-250km range.

[Austin]

Diamond sparkle for India-Russia ties

The appearance of Russian president Vladimir Putin and India’s prime-minister Narendra Modi at the conference made it even more significant. While diamonds and precious stones contribute not more than 1.3 per cent of Russia’s GDP and gems & jewellery sector of India contributes 6% to 7% of country’s GDP, the diamond industry employs thousands of people. In case of India, it runs into hundreds of thousands.

“Fourteen out of fifteen diamonds in the world are being cut and polished in India”, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her address at the conference. She mentioned that the Indian cutting and polishing industry should be praised not only for expertise and skilled labour, but for willingness to work on low margins.


In his speech at the conference, Mr Modi noted that most Russian rough diamonds come to India indirectly via trade hubs in Antwerp and Dubai. He invited global mining companies, including Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s leader in diamond mining in volume terms, to increase their business with India by selling rough diamonds directly to Indian companies.

“I made three proposals to president Putin. First, I would like Alrosa to have direct long-term contracts with more Indian companies. I am pleased to know that they are moving in this direction,” Mr Modi said. “Second, I want Alrosa and others to trade directly on our diamond bourse. We have decided to create a Special Notified Zone where mining companies can trade diamonds on consignment basis and re-export unsold ones. Third, I asked to reform regulation so that Russia can send rough diamonds to India and reimport polished diamonds without extra duties”.

Mr Modi mentioned that he and the Russian president had initial discussions on the diamond industry during their meeting on the margins of the G20 summit in Australia and it took only 15 days for the Russian leader to take forward the discussion and push through the concrete decisions.

“I strongly feel that if India and Russia come together, diamond will sparkle the whole world,” Modi proclaimed in eloquent Hindi.

There is nothing more that the Gujarati-dominated Indian diamond community could wish to hear from the prime minister who got thunderous applause more than 20 times during his speech.

Direct trade pacts

On the sidelines of the conference, Alrosa signed long-term agreements with 12 Indian companies. Earlier, only six companies enjoyed the privilege of getting rough diamonds directly from the miner.

“As a diamond manufacturer we employ 25 000 people. We need a stable supply of rough to ensure stability of the production cycle”, Bharat Kakadia, director, Sheetal Manufacturing Company, told RIR. “It is only possible with getting rough directly from Alrosa because the diamond market functions in such a way that middlemen trading diamonds via Antwerp, Dubai and other hubs speculate in diamond trade by either withholding rough stock and creating supply deficit or flowing it out in the market and crushing the prices”.

“This is significant both for Indian diamond companies as well as for Alrosa. Direct contract showed their effectiveness in the previous contract period,” Andrey Polyakov, Alrosa vice-president, told RIR. “About 70 per cent of diamonds are being manufactured in India. The stability of the market depends on the manufacturers. Of course there are some price fluctuations always. As a mining company we need to make projections years ahead because we invest billions of dollars in exploration and mining itself. We need to understand the sales perspectives and direct contracts allow us to do that”.

The cooperation in diamonds between Russia and India is not limited to rough trade. Having proven expertise in diamond cutting and polishing, India could export not only polished diamonds and ready-made diamond jewelry to Russia, but also its manufacturing skills.

Addressing the business community in New Delhi, Mr Putin invited Indian diamond manufacturers to invest in manufacturing units in Russia.

[Austin]

SSJ-100 business version made its first international flight

MOSCOW, December 14 - RIA Novosti. The aircraft "Sukhoi Superjet 100" business version made ​​its first international flight on the route Moscow - New Delhi, the press service of the Industry and Trade Ministry on Sunday.

Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Denis Manturov as part of his working visit to India said that "Sukhoi Superjet-100 business" made its first international flight. "The aircraft first flew nonstop from Moscow - New Delhi. The flight was 6:00 05 minutes at 4738 km range," - said in a statement.

Head of Industry and Trade of Russia is in Delhi to participate in the activities of the official visit to India by Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the events that took place on the sidelines of the visit was the presentation of a business version of the aircraft, "Sukhoi Superjet-100".

Manturov noted that the construction of SSJ 100 in the business version will be developed: range aircraft "Sukhoi Superjet-100" in the future will reach 8,000 kilometers, and customers can get individual equipment.

"The Indian colleagues and partners will have the opportunity to evaluate our civil aircraft" Sukhoi Superjet-100. "India for us is not only one of the priority markets, but most importantly - one of the most important partners for joint projects in the aviation industry. We are ready to discuss with Indian partners SSJ licensed production or production of individual components for this aircraft, "- said the Minister.


http://ria.ru/economy/20141214/1038167024.html

[g.sarkar]

http://www.firstpost.com/world/fallout- ... 48355.html
Fallout from Putin's visit: US, Ukraine object to Indo-Russian deals; will Modi listen?
by Rajeev Sharma Dec 13, 2014 15:45 IST
India is bracing to meet with international challenges post-Putin visit and the signing of long term fantabulous deals between India and Russia worth $100 billion which may well be in the region of $125 billion because of inflation.
Several western nations and their allies have complained to the Ministry of External Affairs about the unusually high quantum of business deals in monetary terms reached between India and Russia during the 15th India-Russia annual summit in New Delhi on 11 December.
The complaining nations include the United States and Ukraine. They have questioned India’s wisdom in going ahead with boosting business and economic relations with Russia at a time when the West has imposed severe sanctions on Russia for its alleged sins of omission and commission over the recent Ukraine/Crimea crisis.
A key official confirmed to this writer that the Ministry of External Affairs was actually inundated by protests from countries which are tooth and nail opposed to Russia.
Their main concerns are that India has given its go-ahead signal for a vast range of bilateral cooperation projects which are worth $100 billion as reported by Firstpost here.
In a way, the reactions from these foreign countries go to show that the Indian foreign policy is actually being run independently and without fear and favour.....
Gautam

[Austin]

The Ukraine crises does not cause a blink in Indian FP much as US Invasion of Iraq did.

So all this talk of cut business deal with India by West and Ukraine is hypocritical.

They should first stop buying all Gas and Oil from Russia , stop all trade and then tell India to follow and that too if it wishes too.

Did US or EU or Ukraine tell China not to get into Big Business Deal with Russia when they signed hundred billion dollar Gas deal recently.

So India is weak so they should pressurise India more

[g.sarkar]

So India is weak so they should pressurise India more

Obviously they prefer MMS and Boris Yeltsin to the current office holders.
Gautam