15th Indo-Russian Bilateral Annual Summit held in New Delhi

15th Indo-Russian Bilateral Annual Summit was held in Delhi 11 December 2014. President Vladimir Putin of Russia visited India to hold the summit on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin released a joint statement in which both the countries agreed on a vision for strengthening the India-Russia partnership over the next decade.

Highlights of the summit
• During the summit, both the countries signed 20 agreements in the fields such as nuclear energy, oil and gas, health, investment, mining, media and wind power.
• Both the countries agreed on the construction of at least 12 new nuclear power units within the next 20 years, including two new units at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Both also countries agreed to find a new site to construct a new nuclear plant.
• Both the countries agreed to promote bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation, including the idea of exploring the use of national currencies in settlements.
• Both the countries agreed to consult and coordinate in multilateral forums such as G20, East Asia Summit (EAS), BRICS and RIC.  The bilateral program on enhanced cooperation in oil and gas sphere underlines the serious commitments of the two counties to develop cooperation in energy area of great promise.
• Both the countries envisage broader collaboration between hydrocarbon companies of the two countries in oil and gas exploration and production as well as in LNG projects and supplies.
• India reassured Russia that Russia will remain primary defence partner of India, though both the countries did not reach a concrete agreement on the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) and a multirole transport aircraft (MTA) projects.
• Russia expressed that it would look at participating in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor project and will speed up the negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Union.
• Russia looks forward to India to become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
• India and Russia supports the evolution of open, balanced and inclusive security architecture in the Asia Pacific region based on collective efforts, considering legitimate interests of all states of the region and guided by respect for norms and principles of international law.

About Indo-Russian Annual Summit
• President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Vajpayee launched the annual Summit process in 2000. The first summit Prime Minister Vajpayee visited Moscow and held the summit.
• This is President Vladimir Putin's eleventh Annual Summit and first summit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.